


Marks

by Ginny41



Category: PRISTIN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, F/F, Fantasy, Romance, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 23:38:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 96,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17273318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ginny41/pseuds/Ginny41
Summary: Can you create your own destiny or is it all settled by a higher power? In a world where everyone is fated to meet their soulmate, to never get a mark was considerate a curse. Yet Minkyung and Kyungwon had never considered themselves as unlucky even through they had never developed a mark. They had each other and it was enough. At least it was like this until the day Minkyung got a different mark on her hand.





	1. Spring

**Author's Note:**

> Work also posted on aff, I decided to post it here now since it's completed.
> 
> This story has two endings, an official one and an alternative one.

Her slender, elegant fingers were slowly becoming stiff and swollen, holding the pen with more strength than needed. The side of her hand had become reddish and over sensitive due to all the pressure she has been applying in it for way too long. Her wrist was even worse. Kyungwon could feel like little needles were piercing through her muscles into her bones, she knew this kind of pain all too well. Still, she didn’t budge, focusing on finishing the last details as fast as she could. Her hand would need plenty of rest after it, but right now her work required all her effort.

 

Twenty or so minutes passed until she finally gave her hand a rest, stretching her arms over her head for a moment before standing up. The final product was ready, at least she thought so, hopefully it was worth all the time and effort she had put into it. Kang had sent the latest version to her editor, a little over two days before her final deadline. She could have taken a break once in a while and do things slowly, but Kyungwon didn’t want to lose her creative strike.

 

It was her first official webtoon, the first one that was receiving attention and good reviews, the first one that was actually getting her better paychecks and recognition. It was her big chance of establishing herself as an artist and she was doing all that she could to make sure she wouldn’t ruin it. Even if it meant putting her swollen hand in a bucket full of ice for the next half an hour. Gods know how much she hated the cold biting on her skin, but she hated the pain in her right hand a whole lot more.

 

She had expend a lot of time working as an assistant and a freelancer for some animation companies. The webtoon was by far her biggest and most steady project, she couldn’t help but feel nervous and excited every time she had to deliver new chapters. Her editor, a younger and overly smart woman named Bae Sungyeon, was a good friend even though she could be a little harsh at times. The american girl was good at keeping her in the right path and not allowing her to slack off or become discouraged. Kyungwon was doing her best to make sure her work would make both of them proud, she knew Bae had pretty much begged for her webtoon to be published in first place and she would never be grateful enough for this.

 

The webtoon was in the top rankings for the last couple of months, the interest of the public had grown with time and now, over a year since the first chapter was uploaded, it had a small but loyal fan base. Kang was both, thrilled and a bit scared, every time she had to put out new content. The response was always overwhelming, every comment and suggestion sparkling her imagination alive. So many ideas, plot twists, different styles and undertones…Sungyeon really had to remind her to not go overboard. Of course a lot of pressure came with the success, her deadlines were shorter now, she needed to pay more attention to detail and try to fix every plot hole she mistakenly left. It was erratic, but she was loving it so much.

 

Besides Sungyeon, she had an even bigger supporter that was always there for her and was also her main source of inspiration. This supporter wouldn’t be so please to know she had spent the whole day working nonstop and even skipped lunch, she would be extra unpleased if she knew Kyungwon had “forgotten” her wrist brace once again. That’s why Kang had to make sure she would make her hand presentable before Minkyung could have a good look at her.

 

Kyungwon massaged her right hand with her left for a moment, a very non subtle pain radiating from the side of her pinky, bringing only some small relief after a while. Her tendonitis was nothing new, but it didn’t mean she would ever get used to it.

 

The tall brunette made sure her hand was hide deep into her jacket’s pocket before leaving the small room that she uses as her studio. If only she could fetch some ointment and ice before her girlfriend noticed her, everything would be fine.

 

Of course she didn’t, Kyungwon was never good at being sneaky and Minkyung’s hearing seemed especially good at recognizing her steps – this and the fact that she actually dropped a bunch of old plastic cups while trying to fetch one to pour the ice on.

 

 **“The ointment is over here. You can come get it now.”** The slightly older woman said from their room, her voice sounding as clear as if she was standing right next to her, full of a mocking tone that would surely match the know-it-all expression she would give Kyungwon as soon as the younger stepped into the room.

 

Kang sighed, letting the ice aside and walking towards the room her and Minkyung shared.

 

The younger girl already knew she would get a good scolding for overworking herself, it was becoming a frequent occurrence ever since she began her new work. Before she began the webtoon it was always the opposite, Kang would be the one that would scold her perfectionist girlfriend and convince her to take a break from work once in a while. Maybe Minkyung wasn’t only concerned about her wellbeing, but also enjoying the reversal. The small smirk in her face when their eyes met confirmed her supposition.

 

Kyungwon gave her a warm smile, trying to not look too embarrassed for her failed attempt of going unnoticed. She would always get excited whenever Minkyung headed home earlier, anticipating a night full of their favorite shows and some takeout food that they would eat while talking about their days and making plans for the weekend – She loved their little couple routine. But today she wished Minky had come home just a little later, or at least that she didn’t had such light steps that made it impossible to hear her entering the house.

 

Minkyung was sitting on their bed, using comfortable clothes even though her laptop was still resting on her lap making it clear that she had been finishing off some work. The so said ointment was on her hand as well, and by the way she put the laptop aside and kept the medicine she was clearly going full nurse mode. A smirk was pasted on her face as predict. But her eyes were more serious and concerned than expected, a deep mark formed on her forehead to emphasize it.

 

Kang wondered how bad she looked to get this kind of reaction. Note to self: Put a mirror in the studio.

 

 **“Good evening, love. How come you look so gorgeous after such a long day?”** Kyungwon began, using her cheese tone that never failed to make the other woman smile. She sat beside her on the bed. **“How was work? Should we order some pizza? I have your favorite movies ready already, we could a marathon!”**

 

Her cheerful tone wasn’t fooling anyone, but her smile was sincere. After all, to see Minkyung, even if she was about to scold her pretty badly, was always something that made her happy. Kim was the only person that could make her feel better solely with her presence. Kang leaned in, using her left hand – the one she wasn’t trying to hide --, to caress Minky’s soft cheek. She kissed her gently, the usual warm and sweet feeling filling her up.

 

Minkyung didn’t push her away, but she did pull away faster than usual. Her gaze dropping to Kyungwon’s right hand, the one the girl was still trying to hide from her sight. Kim left out a sigh, grabbing Kang’s arm so she could get a good look at her hand. **“Can’t you use your wristband for once?”** She nagged, a bit harsher than she had meant it to be. She knew how painful it was for her girlfriend and seeing Kyungwon hurt was almost as painful for herself. Kim was fully aware of how stubborn the Kang could be, that’s why she interrupted her before the girl could say anything. **“I know, it makes you draw slower and it’s hot. It also will helps preventing you from ruining your hands and having to drown yourself in ointment after every chapter you finish.”**

 

 **“Just take it easy, okay? I know Sungyeon gives you enough time, so don’t rush so much.”** It wasn’t the first time she told Kyungwon it, and usually it would only work for a couple of days before the younger woman start to act recklessly again. It was a bit ironic that her usually lazy and mischievous girlfriend had this overly responsible and all too serious side of her when it came down to this project. Kyungwon would go to all extents to make sure her drawings were delivered with plenty of time to fix any mistakes, even if it meant hurting herself. Minkyung loved how passionate she was, but hated how it affected her.

 

Kim kissed the artist swollen hand – she would always kiss Kyungwon whenever she hurt herself, it was like this ever since they were in middle school. “ **Please, Kyungwonie. I don’t want to have to hide your tablet again.”** Minky warned with a tone that was both sweet and determined at the same time. She smiled when her girlfriend nodded slowly, looking more like a guilty child than a newly famous webtoon artist.

 

Minkyung concentrate in applying the ointment on the girl’s hand, gently but firmly. Kyungwon was really like a child sometimes, always whining and trying to run away too afraid of the pain even if she knew it was for the best. **“Minky! I still need this hand to work and pay for our kid’s college tuition, you know?”** Her arguments were equally childish and the taller woman just rolled her eyes, still focused on massaging her hand – a little more gently now. Kyungwon knew how much she loved hearing about their future family, it gave her a warm, happy feeling. Kang might be a whiny big kid in various aspects, but Minkyung was fully aware of how serious she was about that job and the reason for it.

 

 **“That’s why I’m making sure you’ll still have it by the time they go to college.”** She finished her massage, getting a hot pack from the drawer to place on top of Kyungwon’s hand. Warmth was far better than cold, she wondered how much of an air head the other woman must be to not know it even after all this time – Or maybe she was just too forgetful to hide some in her studio and had to try improvising.

 

 **“I know you are doing this for us, and I’m grateful for this. But for me nothing is more important than your wellbeing.”** Finally she allowed herself to face Kyungwon, meeting the dark brown eyes she could recognize anywhere. She could see Kyungwon was trying to come up with a light reply as usual, but there was a pinch of guilty in her eyes. Kang had worked harder in the last months than her whole life, and Kim knew her too well to know that it was more than just for the fame. Kyungwon was making a lot of money with the webtoon, more than they could’ve expected, and even if she hadn’t said it out and loud yet, Minky didn’t need to be a genius to know what she was planning on doing next.

 

Minkyung leaned in, giving her a peck in the lips. **“I can’t have any kids if you over work yourself to death before I’ve the chance.”** She said in a playful tone, giving up on scolding the younger woman for now. Kyungwon hugged her, tight and warm, making Minkyung melt into the embrace. Her soft and fresh scent had a calming effect over Kim, reminding her why she always did her best to get home earlier. There was nothing like being in Kyungwon’s arms after a long day at her stressful work.

 

 **“I promise you, we are going on vacation soon. Summer is right around the corner and I even thought of a place that is just right for us!”** Kyungwon said near her ear, her tone full of excitement and determination. The puppy like girl had always been the type that keeps her promises and Minkyung didn’t doubt she would find a way to get rid of all their work just for a couple of lazy days. **“I’d love that. But you know spring just started, right?”** She pulled away a bit so she could face Kyungwon that had her typical smile on her face. A smile that would grow bigger whenever she lied, just like she was about to do. **“Sure thing, I knew that! But you know, it’s a very fancy place and they even let you take your dogs with you, so we have to make reservations soon and pick Kongie up at mom’s and...”** Kyungwon proceed talking about all the attractions the so called hotel had, most of them for pets and their owners.

 

Minky was feeling like it would be more like a ‘Kang Kongie and Kang Kyungwon featuring Minkyung’ tour than a romantic vacation, but she didn’t mind it. Spend some time with her girlfriend and her beloved dog didn’t sound half bad, she could imagine how cute Kyungwon would look running around with Kongie and acting like the big child she is. Minkyung would probably use this time to try to get some inspiration and write a bit. They could spend their nights together visiting all the places Kongie wouldn’t be allowed in and enjoying the food and local culture. It sounded great and she was more than willing to accept it.

 

 **“Okay, okay, I get it. We are going!”** She agreed once more, interrupting Kyungwon’s endless plans for their – or maybe she should call it ‘kongie’s – vacation. **“But now that I finished taking care of my overly grown baby, I’d would like some food. Meat and pizza since you are paying!”**

 

* * *

 

Not so far away of that place Kang Yaebin was, finally, bringing her work day to an ending. She was closing the bookstore and making sure every inch of the place was clear and organized before going out.

 

Yaebin adjusted her light jacket over her shoulders, letting out a small yawn. She wasn’t really feeling sleepy, it was rather early still. She was just bored.

 

It had been a slow day, not that many clients came in, and the ones that did were the very annoying kind that would make her suggest dozens of books and explain their plots only to end up buying something completely random, or worse, not buying anything at all. Kyla, the part-timer she would usually talk to during their boring hours of waiting, hadn’t come today due to her college exams – Yaebin was kind enough to give the kid the time she needed to study, after all she had graduated not so long ago and she always wished she had more time to study back then.

 

She looked at her wristwatch, mentally calculating how much time she had to do her daily routine. A whole organic meal waited for her in the fridge back home, but she wasn’t feeling so inclined to her healthy diet when the mouth watering smell of fried chicken was coming from the restaurant down the street. She had to remind herself how much those were bad for her body and the amount of effort it would take to get rid of the extra calories. She sighed to herself, wondering how she had become such a health freaky over the years -- No wonder her friends would call her ‘no fun’ nowadays.

 

The small Kang took a long breath, savoring the smell of the prohibited food once more before start walking to the opposite direction. A new scent embraced her as she walked, slowly but surely filling her lungs. The woman slow down her pace, her gaze attracted to the trees that flanked the road. Yaebin always loved the smell of the cherry blossoms, however she had been so busy lately that she hadn’t even noticed spring had come and the streets were turning pink again.

 

The scene made a smile appear on her face, bringing her nice memories and giving her the courage she needed to get through one more night. She speeded up, in a hurry to reach home.

 

Yaebin didn’t lose too much time at her house, she just went in to change into some more comfortable clothes and put on her sneakers. She took a bite on her not do appetizing dinner and almost instantly put the food back into the fridge, deciding to delay their fatidic meeting for another time. The brunette grabbed a bottle of water and an apple instead, heading out.

 

The people she passed by were just a blur and she didn’t mind it -- She had enough dealing with strangers every day at the store. Couples were particularly a bother, and she made some extra effort ignoring the few ones that were around. Today Yaebin just wanted to feel at ease with herself, without thinking too much.

 

She always felt better outside and the evening was so pretty that night, decorated with a beautiful indigo sky and the pink of the cherry blossoms on the streets. If she only concentrated on the beauty of the nature, she wouldn't have to think about all her work and family worries, and even if only for a little while, she would be free.

 

So she run, slowly gaining speed in the almost empty tracks of the park near her house.

 

It took a while for the young woman to get tired and slow down her pace, eventually coming to a stop. Kang rested her hands on her hips, taking quick breaths to recover from the jogging. It was tiring, but it made her feel good and alive.

 

A high pitched sound started to echo, a very annoying song that she would never set as anyone’s ringtone. But she wasn’t the one that picked the song, it was the person who was calling her right now. She picked up the call, a smile in her voice as she answered. **“Ya, Jung Nunu! What about you get your lazy self out here and join me for a run?”**

 

Of course the person declined the offer right away. Jung Eunwoo, a close friend she met in college, was probably the least athletic person she ever met and the only one that could be proud of such a thing.

 

The voice in the other side of the line asked her if she had plans for the night and Yaebin hummed, starting to slowly walk towards the metal fences that separated the park tracks from the river that run down there. **“Not really. I think I’ll will just enjoy some fresh air and stuff.”** She said, leaning in the fence and closing her eyes for a moment. The smell of spring was still strong and she did her best to memorize it. Eunwoo complained about how boring she was, but Yaebin just left out a small chuckle. **“Well, I’d ask you again to join me and make it a little less boring, but I don’t want to ruin your dinner date with the TV, so...See you tomorrow, Eunwoo!”**

 

Eunwoo protested a couple more times, insisting on her coming over instead before hanging up. Any other day Kang would have considered going over to Nunu’s house to chat for a bit and try to resist all the snacks she would have laying around. However, today she felt like enjoying her time alone would be the best. For the last couple of years she always had to much on her mind, too much to deal with and too little time to do so. Finally she was getting a little time for herself and she would enjoy it.

 

Soon enough she wouldn’t feel alone anymore, even if she wanted to.

 


	2. Manuscripts

Minkyung looked at herself in the mirror, fixing her skirt and making sure everything else was perfect. She would only wear her old sweaters if she could, but her job required a more refined appearance. Black skirt, black shoes with small and comfortable heels, a white blouse over a simple undershirt, an elegant dark gray jacket would complete the look. Kim placed her belongs in the small bag, double checking every item. A final look to her phone’s screen showed she was early, as usual, so she wouldn’t have to rush. Minky really hated being late, especially now that she was still the ‘new kid’ in her department and all the seniors were keeping an eye on her, hoping she would make a mistake, so they could have some fun laughing at her for being scolded by the old witch that was her boss.

 

Kim kissed her sleepy girlfriend’s cheek, carefully to not wake her up. Kyungwon was not that much of a morning person and after such a long week of work she deserved a bit more of sleep before Sungyeon started to call her about the next deadline. Once in a while the younger woman would insist in waking up early to walk her to the work, what was incredibly sweet of her part, but usually ended up in both of them having to run to catch the subway in time and it didn’t turn out very romantic. Minky left a note on the nightstand, a quick reminder to Kyungwon to eat properly (ramen wasn’t considered a proper meal) and to not forget to go grocery shopping later.

 

She left their house, heading to the subway station. They lived in a small, friendly neighborhood. The renting wasn’t so expensive and thanks to this they were able to get a comfortable house, even if it was a bit far away of her job, it was close enough from the subway station what made going to work a lot easier. Minkyung met some of old ladies that were her neighbors and exchanged some greetings, before continuing her path.

 

It was still too early, so she took her time, admiring the streets without the usual crowds. She smiled as she looked at the cherry blossoms, raising one hand to touch them briefly. To see such delicate beauty in the middle of the gray streets was a very welcoming surprise, maybe a signal that her day at work wouldn’t be so bad -- Hopefully.

 

Minkyung was the first to arrive at the office, sitting by her desk and preparing everything for the day. She was in the company for five years now, she had gone through various departments and even though her job was related to the things she loved, it wasn’t an easy one. The publishing company had take her in as an intern first, at that time she didn’t thought she would stick around for that long, but that was how things turned out.

 

Her boss, the old devil, was always too busy. Too busy even to do her own work apparently, what meant Minkyung had to do many things that weren’t exactly what she signed up for. Kim was suppose to give assistance, not to do the whole work, but it wasn’t like she could just say no. Her seniors would also asked her to run errands for them like she was still an intern, and she had to clench her teeth and tend to them otherwise her work life would be even worse.

 

The new position was an important step on her career, even though it made her reevaluate her life choices way too often. The job was paying well and she had the prospects of going up in the company soon. However, it didn’t give her much free time, making her always too busy or too tired to focus on her own writing.

 

Long ago she had planned on working on her own novels, full of ideas and plans. Instead, now she would read a bunch of other people’s manuscripts every day, judge it and write reviews that could determine whether or not it would be published. Read it all and compare her abilities to the other authors had also made her feel less confident and discouraged to write. She couldn’t imagine someone like her boss reading one of her manuscripts -- That old which would probably use it as a saucer to rest her coffee mug or something.

 

Seeing the cherry blossoms wasn’t that great of a signal, she concluded after a whole morning of making copies, writing reviews and having to deal with her boss scolding her for not separating the manuscripts by the author’s ‘relevancy’ instead of using alphabetical order -- even though the older woman had told to do so last week, but apparently Minkyung was supposed to predict her mood swings as well.

 

She sat down for lunch, eating the tasteless cafeteria food she had bought, while checking her phone for messages. There was Kyungwon’s typical very late ‘good morning’ text, her mom asking about when she would drop by, and an overly excited invitation from her little sister to her next concert with the orchestra. There were also some work related emails, Minky ignored them for a little while, replying to her family instead. Her schedule was tight, but she could make some time in the weekend to go over her parents’ house and she was sure Kyungwon would love to go see Yewon’s concert as well.

 

Even with all the work, she always did her best to stay in constant contact with her family the best she could. Her parents were your typical ‘soulmate’ couple, living a calm and happy life together. Minkyung loved to be around them.

 

Yewon was just like their mother, the younger girl was very lively and friendly, she used to be a quiet child but not so much these days. Minky took after their dad, a bit more in the quiet side with a quick witted sense of humor. All the Kim’s were very affectionate with their loved ones, making growing up in that house a very pleasant experience that Minkyung was grateful for. She had many worries in the past, but she knew she could run back home whenever she needed comfort or advice.

 

Kyungwon was a bit similar to her family, she had a playful and dorky personality, but she was also one of the most reliable and supportive people she had ever met. No wonder her parents had loved her right away, and now they were all like a big family, even if not officially yet.

 

The young woman finished eating before checking the last email her boss had sent, expecting for even more unwanted work coming her way. And she wasn’t surprised when it was exactly it. Only that this time it wasn’t so bad.

 

Minkyung would have to go out to make some “market research” in the bookstores, verifying if their books were selling well, the public they were reaching and talking to the owners to make sure no problems happened in the last deliveries and such. It was definitely not part of her official tasks, the company already had a pretty efficient system to make sure everything was going well, but her boss was way too paranoid to believe the data, yet she was still too lazy to go out and check it herself.

 

Minky just shrugged, thinking that spend the day out of the office was still much better than stay inside running errands for her indolent seniors.

 

With a list of the places she was supposed to visit, she left the office to take the bus to the first store.

 

It wasn’t a difficult work. Minkyung had always being good at talking to people, it was part of her naturally charismatic personality, and it was basically all she had to do that day. She would look around the place, talk to the owners, hear any criticism or compliments and occasionally give tips on how to organize the books for best results. She made a list of the books that were selling better in the region and compared it with the ones that weren’t doing so well, this way they would know better the public it was really reaching and avoid receiving too many returns in the future.

 

Of course there were some not so welcoming owners, but she was way too used dealing with rude people to let it affect her. Instead she would go to the next place, focusing on gathering more data.

 

The last two places were around her neighborhood, she arranged things like this to make it easier heading back home once she finished all the surveys -- No way she would go back to that hell of an office just to hand in the results, she would email it to her boss instead.

 

Minkyung had a deep frown on her face when she reached her next stop. The building was peculiar, for a lack of a better word. It had an old style to it, similar to her grandparents’ traditional korean house in the countryside, but it wasn’t as well conserved. It didn’t look inviting at all, the doors were closed and it looked like no one had been there for a pretty long time. There was a big, old sign made out of wood where it read “Im’s Manuscripts” in faded painting, and it was pretty much the only thing that let her know she wasn’t in the wrong place.

 

The girl hesitated for a bit. She wasn’t someone easy to scare, but there was something really odd about that place. Yet, her boss screaming at her for being useless and not getting such an ease task done, would be much worse than the possibility of facing some old ghosts. Kim straightened her posture, reaching for the door and opening it.

 

She blinked a couple of times, trying to get used to the bad illumination in the place. All the light came from a single chandelier that probably had not being clean in the last five years, making it harder for the light to pass through the dirty glass.

 

 

 **“Hello! Anyone there?”** She called out, hoping for some ancient lady to appear out of nowhere.

 

Nobody did.

 

 **“Okay, tough crowd.”** She muttered to herself, slowly walking between the huge piles of books that were randomly placed on the floor. The ceiling was much taller than it looked from the outside, huge bookshelves, filled with books she never heard off, almost reaching the top of it. She wondered how anyone would even be able to reach any of those books when there wasn’t a single ladder in the place -- at least she hadn’t seen one so far.

 

Not surprisingly, there were no customers, and it probably had been like this for a long time judging by the thick layer of dust most books had on top of it. She wondered if they didn’t have any workers either, considering how messy it was. Was that place even running a business still?

 

 **“Hello! Anyone? I’m from P &L Books, I believe we sent you an email about this visit…” ** She tried once more. Starting to feel a bit uncomfortable with the deadly silence in the place.

 

It was a bit hard to move around. There was not only the piles of old books on the floor, but there were also some old vases and statues that gave the bookstore an extra creepy vibe. She really didn’t want to knock out something by mistake just to figure out one of those creepy things was actually super valuable.

 

 **“Please, anyone? Hello!”** Minky was becoming more agitated and a bit impatient. That place was so disturbing that she actually regretted for a moment to have even entered, but then she remembered that creepy places were still better than being screamed at.

 

She walked a little more, inspecting the bookshelves searching for any books that her company published, only to find none. Actually, she didn’t find anything even remotely known. All the books, thousands of them maybe, seem ancient.

 

Minkyung reached out and grabbed one of the books from the shelf, there wasn’t an author name in the cover, only a title in a language she couldn’t read. She tried to get another book, but all of them seem the same.

 

Kim sighed, giving up on finding something useful or someone.

 

Maybe they had gone for a walk or whatever, with no customers there wasn’t much to do anyway. She would just take some pictures to prove she had indeed visited the place and that’s all.

 

She was on her way out of the place when she stumble onto yet another big pile of books, this one a little different than the others. The books also looked old, but these were written in her language and the titles attracted her attention right away.

 

The one on the top of the pile was close enough for her to read it’s title. **“Half souls and trades of destiny: How to sort them out.”** She read aloud, taking the book into her hands and opening it. Surprisingly enough, there was nothing inside. Just a bunch of blank pages, hundreds of them.

 

She muttered a curse, starting to think she was in some kind of prank. What kind of bookstore was that? First there were no customers, no employees, just dust and old books. And now they even had books with absolutely nothing written on them?

 

The young woman looked around, expecting to spot a hidden camera or someone laughing at her, but just like before there was nothing in there. If it was a joke, people had spent a ridiculous amount of time creating such place.

 

Minkyung checked her phone, confirming again that she was in the right place.

 

 **“Just one more time.”** Talking to herself was becoming a habit, but she couldn’t help it. The place reminded of a horror movie scenario and the blank books were perfect for one. Kyungwon and Yewon would hate that place -- thinking about her beloved scary cats made her smile for a moment, a bit less nervous.

 

Minky took another book out of the pile, dusting it off so she could read the cover. **“The love mark blessing.”** The book wasn’t as heavy as the other one, but holding it gave her a weird feeling, as if it was calling for her. She shook her head, opening the book. There was no summary, the first page filled with an intricate written. Minky tried to read it, noticing it was written in a very complex and formal language, it might be even older than she thought.

 

The text was about soulmates, the bonding between two people and how the mark was only one of the signals that signalized it. However, when she flipped the page, there was nothing more. Just like the other book, it had dozens of blank pages.

 

It had to be a prank, there was no way that place was legit.

 

Still, she snapped a picture of the soulmate book -- she wasn’t sure why, but it had grabbed her attention and it made her frustrated that there was nothing there besides that one page. She put the book back into the pile, feeling a bit annoyed.

 

Stay and wait more would be a waste of time, therefore she just wrote a simple note with her name and the office’s phone number, informing that she would come over in a better time. She fixed the stick note onto the counter, doubting anyone would even see it. But still, work was work.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The chinese girl sitting on the counter watched as Minkyung walked out of the place, shaking her head in disapproval. **“You said you would give her the book!”** She complained, turning around to face the woman who didn’t even bother to raise her look from the book she had been reading.

 

 **“She will come back when it’s time.”** Nayoung said in her usual calm tone -- She wasn’t that calm and collected in fact, she was just feeling sleepy all the time. But what else would you expect from someone who was a few thousand of years old? She had watched as the young woman walked around her bookstore, satisfied that things had worked out just as expected. Nayoung had been watching Kim Minkyung for a couple of months now, ever since she had noticed the little abnormality in her register book.

 

 **“And when will it be? You know things will get worse with time.”** Kyulkyung said, giving her an annoyed look. The elders really had very peculiar ways of punishing Im for her little mistakes, giving her that meddlesome assistant was one of them.

 

 **“Soon. She is already on the right path.”** Nayoung closed the book, reaching out to take the sticky note out of counter. She wouldn’t need it, that kid would be back on her own anyway.

 

 **“You just want more time to sleep.”** Kyulkyung muttered under her breath. Her new ‘job’ as a goddess assistant was not as exciting as it sounded. Most of the time she would just watch over the books while Nayoung sleep, making sure no one that shouldn’t wouldn’t touched it. She also was responsible for taking care of the goddess register book, a small notepad filled with more information than Kyulkyung could ever read. Ever since she had learned about one of Nayoung’s tasks she just couldn’t leave her alone. How could she sleep all day while there was so much to do? It was utterly frustrating for someone as active as the young Chinese.

 

 **“I heard it.”** Nayoung looked like she was about to take one of her twenty hours long naps, but her hearing was as sharp as ever. It wasn’t her fault she always felt tired. Blame it on having to take care of a whole continent’s love life. **“And no, you can’t go watch it.”**

 

Kyulkyung was taken by surprise, even though she shouldn’t considering with whom she was living now. The girl sighed. **“And what if it doesn’t go well?”**

 

**“Then it’s is Destiny’s doing and we have one less job to do.”**

 


	3. Soul Marks

After leaving that weird place, Minkyung headed out to her last destination of the day. Luckily it wasn’t very far and she could go by foot. Maybe because the air in the creepy bookstore was filled with dust, going out and breathing fresh air was a relief. She could feel herself relaxing as she distanced herself from the place.

 

The book still lingered on her mind. Not only the fact that it was almost entirely blank, but what she had read on that single page.

 

Why would anyone write a book about the marks even before they started appearing? It wasn’t until a couple of decades ago that the soulmate’s marks had started appearing, before the marks the idea of soulmates was considered just a romantic illusion that people would use in fantasy novels and movies, a thing that didn’t make any sense in real life. Even after the marks become more and frequent and people started to understand what it meant and accept it, there weren’t many books about it.

 

No one knew for sure why after so much time, suddenly humans started developing marks and most people just accepted it as gift from the heavens. At first some studies were done, but it lead nowhere. The marks were the closest thing the humankind had of magic, it was completely harmless yet powerful, and everyone would eventually get one -- Or at least most people.

 

As far as Minkyung (and everyone else who was a normal human being) knew, the marks would naturally appear on the palm of your left hand. No one younger than sixteen years old developed it. Most people would get their marks in their birthday, but some had to wait a bit longer, usually because they hadn’t met or their match hadn’t turn sixteen yet. Although the wait wouldn’t be long, most of the time the couple would be around the same age. She never heard of a couple that had an age gap bigger than two years.

 

The soulmate couples would always find their way to each other, it usually didn’t take long. It was just like it had been carefully planned even before their births.

 

The marks were usually a simple drawing of something that was meaningful for your soulmate or that could represent them. Yewon and her match had musical instruments as part of their marks, for example. Right below the drawing you would be able to see the name of the person you’re supposedly destined to be with.

 

It was as straightforward as possible, and perhaps that’s was the reason why so many people were so happy when they finally got it.

 

No more love problems, no more bad relationships or breakups, no more heart breaks...The marks made things a lot easier and happier for everyone.

 

Besides, there were other aspects to the whole soulmate thing, but this wasn’t something that she would be able to explain. Not when her hand had never developed a mark.

 

Kim brought her hand closer to her face, inspecting her palm. She was almost twenty and five years old, way too old to develop a mark now. It was something that would never stop bothering her, the uncertain was the worst. As the time passed she felt less and less the need to have a mark and started to wish she just would never have one, this way she could continue with her life as it was now.

 

Just like there wasn’t a reason for the marks to appear, there wasn’t one reason why some people didn’t have it. It was extremely rare, so it wasn’t like people were really worried about it. Some would just say it was a signal of bad luck, others would say it was some kind of karma for their wrongdoings in a past life, and there were people who even believed it just meant that your soulmate had died before reaching the right age and therefore they could never meet. None of those explanations made Minkyung feel less uneasy.

 

She would rather believe that it was just a little problem in her body chemistry that couldn’t produce the right pigment for the mark, it was more practical and realistic.

 

Kyungwon didn’t have a mark either, but she had a theory. She used to say they just had invisible marks, what just made them more special instead of unlucky. Minkyung liked that possibility better, no matter how dumb it sounded, it made her feel more confident about their future.

 

Minkyung was so distracted with her own thoughts that she almost passed by the bookstore she was supposed to visit. Luckily the colorful display with the latest released books and the big yellow sign were able to get her attention. **“Athena.”** She read, confirming she was in the right place.

 

Different of the last place, this one was full of light and had customers walking in and out. Kim didn’t hesitate, entering the place and looking around. The shop wasn’t so big, but everything was very well organized and clean, she could see the furniture wasn’t new, but it was well conserved. It had a modern style with vivid colors, yet it was not overly flashy and still had a cozying feeling to it.

 

Minky thought it was a perfect place for reading

 

Just like in the other places she visited, the first thing she did was to walk around for a bit, watching how the customers behaved, how the employers worked and trying to find some books from her company. Everything seemed to run smoothly there, the books were well placed and she could already spot the ones that she looked for. Whoever planned their sales was smart and it seemed like she wouldn’t need to give them any tips this time.

 

With a small smile, she decided to look for the owner of the place. She found a young girl with a yellow shirt with the bookstore name on it. Kyla, the girl that stated she only worked there as a part timer, showed her the way to a small office in the back of the store.

 

Kim knocked on the door lightly, going into the office once a voice told her to do so. She put on her usual polite smile. The other woman still hadn’t look at her, busy finishing something off on her computer before she could give her attention.

 

 **“Hello. I’m Kim Minkyung from P &L Books. Is it okay for us to talk now? It won’t take too much of your time.” **She said, giving the woman behind the desk an expectant look.

 

The woman finally finished typing and lift up her gaze to meet hers. Minkyung was surprised by how young the girl was, probably even younger than her. She wasn’t sure what she expected, but definitely not that. It wasn’t only the age, there was something else that Minky couldn’t point out that made the girl catch her attention.

 

 **“Only if it won’t bother you too much, of course.”** Kim bowed politely before she could give the other a better look.

 

She wasn’t the type that stared at people, but just like earlier with that book, she couldn’t help but feel curious about that person.

 

The woman stood up to greet her properly and Minkyung could notice how much shorter the girl was. She surely was petite, but it would be hard to not notice her in the crowd, she had a very distinct, memorable face.

 

Her face was small with sharp, yet gentle features. She had intelligent brown eyes, a perfectly long straight nose and thin lips where a small smile was visible. Her brown hair was up in a ponytail that made her look even younger.

 

Somehow look at her gave Minkyung an unknown pleasant feeling. It was like meeting a friend after a long time, as if she had missed being around her and it was a relief to finally see her again.

 

Only that Minky had never met that girl before, and she had no reason to feel that way at all.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Yaebin was having a tough day at work. There were more clients than usual and even with Kyla helping out while Yooa was working as a cashier, things were erratic. Usually she would be in the store working alongside the others, but her mom had made another bad deal and she was having a hard time dealing with it. She had been sending emails and making calls nonstop since early morning, trying to make sure the situation wouldn’t be as harmful as it could be – Her mom was really thoughtless when it came down to buying things and it wasn’t like they had that much extra money to invest on useless stuff.

 

By the end of the morning she had solved most of her problems and was able to join the girl’s in the store for a bit, helping them reorganize everything and deal with the most picky customers. It was tiring, but she was glad at least they were making some money.

 

Thankfully the afternoon was a bit more calm, without any calls from her mom and only their usual clients coming in to have a look at the newest releases. Yaebin went back to her office, going back to her normal occupations.

 

She was updating their stock info when she heard someone come in. She took her time finishing things up and making sure she had saved everything, before she acknowledge the stranger’s presence.

 

Kang was ready to face another scammer trying to sell her some ‘very important and essential’ encyclopedias for double the price, but she heard the other woman low, soothing voice informing where she was from. Yaebin had been so busy that she probably had forgotten to check the email and that’s why she was taken aback when she heard the name of the huge company that was one of their suppliers.

 

 **“Oh, sure. It is my pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Kim. I’m Kang Yaebin.”** She said in here usual business tone, getting up to greet the other woman.

 

However she was a bit flustered when she faced her, forgetting for a moment how she was supposed to behave in this kind of situation.

 

The stranger, Minkyung, was probably one of the most impressive people she had ever met. Not only because the girl was very attractive with her model like height and perfect classic features, but she also had a very unique and charming aura to her.

 

Minkyung was giving her a friendly smile that reached her eyes, making them curve slightly in a half moon shape.

 

She had the prettiest eyes Yaebin had ever seen. It had an alluring quality to them. Just like her smile, was friendly, filled with a warm glow that seem to be able to reach Yaebin easily and make her a feel a bit dizzy.

 

 **“I-It’s okay. I have time.”** She wanted to kick herself for stuttering in front of the other girl, but if Minkyung had noticed it, she didn’t show.

 

The shorter girl tried to not blush, taking her eyes off the woman to check her computer once more. **“I didn’t saw the email early, I’ll check it now.”** She could simply have asked Minkyung what she was there for, but she found it easier to focus on the screen than the girl’s face.

 

Yaebin was usually good at dealing with people, she had never been shy and talk with strangers was part of her work. It was ironic that now she was trying to find excuses to not talk to the girl directly.

 

Perhaps, she just needed a moment to get into her normal self.

 

There was just something about Minkyung, but she wasn’t sure exactly what it was, nor why it made her feel so flustered all of sudden.

 

 **“There is no need, really. I just wanted to talk about how things are going with out new books.”** Minkyung said, her voice sounding a lot more confident and clear than Yaebin’s. The older woman proceed to explain that this meeting was only a way to make sure her company was doing all that they could to help out and benefit both sides.

 

She looked like an easy person to talk to and it made Yaebin relax a bit more, nodding slightly in response.

 

 **“Do you want me to show you the titles that are selling better? We have quiet a few young customers coming since we changed the display.”** Luckily her voice sounded more casual, as it was normally. She tried to channel her inner salesman, this way she could treat that girl just like any other customer she had to talk to.

 

 **“I would love that. Actually I looked around a bit and you have a very nice place here.”** Minkyung was probably just trying to be polite, but her tone was so sincere that Yaebin couldn’t help but return her smile with one of her own. Work in the family business wasn’t her first pick as a career, but she still loved that store and put all her effort into making it the best place she could.

 

She asked Kim to follow her as she showed her around, explaining about the public they usually deal with and what books were selling better as of now. After a couple of minutes where they discussed the work related matters and the taller girl took some notes, they stopped in front of one of the shelves in the fantasy section.

 

 **“So, what are your favorites? I don’t find think I’d be able to pick one easily with so many to chosen from.”** Minkyung asked in a light tone that surprised Yaebin. She decided she liked that side of Minkyung more.

 

 **“Is not hard at all. I love the classics.”** She replied in the same tone, pointing out the Harry Potter collection that had a special place dedicated to them.

 

From there, their conversation flowed smoothly, with Minkyung telling her about her love for manga and in no time they were discussing their favorite characters in each series. And somehow it evolved to their favorite foods and movies and even more personal topics like their careers and friends.

 

Kim was a good listener and she always seem to be interested about what Yaebin had to say and happy when they found something in common.

 

Yaebin wasn’t sure if it was just the way the woman acted with everyone or if they simply had clicked, however she was gladly surprised about how easy it was to talk to her. It was almost like they had always been close, even though they barely knew anything about each other.

 

They must have talked for more time than she thought because they were interrupted by Kyla that had come inform she was already going home since her shift was over.

Minkyung had excused herself to pick up a call and Yaebin couldn’t help but stare at her, wondering how someone could make her so distracted in a day like that.

 

The girl had her back turned to her, but she could see clearly her elegant hand that was holding onto the cellphone. A golden ring was placed on her finger, not fancy enough to be a wedding ring, but it clearly had a special meaning.

 

Yaebin felt a sense of guilty wash over her for feeling disappointed at that sight. Of course, Minkyung already had someone, in their society people used to find their soulmates even before they finished school.

 

Minkyung was only being friendly and it wasn’t big deal. She knew better than keep her hopes up and set herself for a heartbreak. Long ago she had accepted that things like this weren’t for her, and perhaps it was for the best.

 

Eunwoo kept saying she needed to go out more and have some fun, maybe her friend was right and she was just under so much stress than even the smallest things could affect her.

 

Still, it was hard to not wish she also had someone like that. Back in her teenager years she would think about it every day and hope she would soon find the right one, like having her soulmate in her life would make everything better.

 

Not having her mark on her sixteen birthday was just one more unfortunate thing that happened that year. However, as the time passed and it never appeared, the deception had sink in her heart like a rock in a lake. Seeing everyone around her finding their special ones and living happily made it almost impossible to not become bitter. Still, she had tried her best to not let it affect her too much, trying to keep in mind that with the greatest love also comes the greatest pain – her family was a very good example of that.

 

Yaebin averted her gaze of Minkyung, focusing on the bookshelves instead. She looked for anything out of place. It wasn’t unusual for customers to just randomly place the books instead of putting it back in the spot they had found it initially. She found ‘The Silver Chair’ in the middle of the supernatural section and took it out to place it in it’s rightful spot.

 

But when she was trying to put it back, tiptoeing to reach the tallest shelf, she saw small, red lines on the palm of her hand that was holding the book. The color was so vivid that it scared her and she let the book fall, almost hitting her on it’s way down – Even though she wouldn’t have noticed, she was too busy trying to not scream while staring at her own hand.

 

In the palm of her left hand there was a newly acquired mark, the red lines forming a delicate drawing of a quill pen right above a name written in simple characters.

 

Kim Min Kyung.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Minkyung always tried to create a friendly relationship with the storeowners, not only it made her job easier, but it was also more pleasant. With Yaebin it wasn’t supposed to be different, she would just talk for a little while, collect all the data she needed and go home early.

 

But it wasn’t like the other times because Yaebin wasn’t like any other person she had met before.

 

Minky just felt so curious about her, what she liked and what she didn’t, how her life was like.

 

Minkyung liked the way Yaebin’s voice sounded so full of life whenever she was talking about her favorite books and the sparkle in her eyes when Minkyung admitted that she also loved them. Their tastes seem to complement each other and before she noticed, they had already talked about so many different topics. It was like their friendship was meant to be.

 

The realization struck her in the moment she looked outside the window and noticed the sky was already dark. She had frowned, confused. How long they had been talking for? She wasn’t the kind that loses her time perception when she was supposed to be working.

 

She reached for her bag, looking for her phone to check what time it was. However when she grabbed it, the screen reflected something on her palm. Something that wasn’t supposed to be there.

 

Kim gulped. A different feel started taking over her mind, uneasiness.

 

She didn’t even noticed when the young employee came to talk to Yaebin, too petrified to move an inch.

 

The phone ringed. ‘Devil’s mother in law’, her boss nickname appearing on the screen. She could feel her hands shaking, but she tried her best to ignore what she just saw and pick up the call.

 

Even though her boss was being her normal unpleasant self over the phone, Minky wasn’t able to focus enough in the conversation to be bothered by it. She just answered it automatically giving the older woman directions about where to find an old project and ended the call.

 

She could feel Yaebin’s gaze on her back, but even after the call was over she didn’t turn. Her left hand had the phone in a tight grip, the device being the only thing that blocked her vision of the mark.

 

Why it had to appear right now?

 

Minkyung was only able to see one word earlier: Kang. It was Kyungwon’s last name and a wave of relief and happiness had washed over her for a tiny second before the realization hit her.

 

The chances of Kyungwon’s name being the one in her palm were very, very low. They had met over ten years ago, they were friends for a long time and dated for years, still neither of them had developed a mark. If they were each other’s match, it would have happened already.

 

She didn’t want to check it and see somebody else’s name.

 

But she didn’t have a choice.

 

She heard the sound of something hitting the ground with a thud, and looked over her shoulder spotting Yaebin with a shocked expression on her face.

 

Minkyung looked away, trying to keep herself calm, even though it was becoming hard to breath. She couldn’t even look at the small Kang right now, she was too scared of what she would see.

 

She excused herself, going outside the door with rushed steps. She run until she reached a small park that was nearby. She sat down in one of the benches, feeling like she could fall if she didn’t have any support. She took some long deep breaths, her hand still clenched around the cellphone.

 

 **“Please, please, please…”** She prayed, putting her phone down in her lap. She took a deep breath before she could finally master the courage to took a good look at her left palm.

 

Minkyung let out a painful cry, covering her mouth to muffle the sound. Tears started to form in the corner of her eyes as she stared at her hand.

 

After so long she finally had her soulmate mark, a cute drawing of a snowman. The letters bellow were written in a small, elegant calligraphy.

 

She was right, the last name was Kang, but it wasn’t Kyungwon’s hand written, nor it was her name.

 

Her soulmate was another Kang, the one she had just met.

 

It was Yaebin.


	4. Aftermath

Yaebin was once again in front of the blue light of the computer’s screen, this light was the only one in the dark office in the back of the bookstore. If anyone asked how she had get back to the place, she probably would have a hard time answering.

The last hours were like a blur in her mind, as if her brain was suddenly filled with numbness.

Perhaps her mind should’ve been full of questions and hopes, full of dreams and fears. After so long, to find her perfect match in such a way just couldn’t be something simple to deal with.

The shock of seeing the red mark on her hand was enough to make her completely disoriented.

In the moment she saw the characters on her palm, the red paint spelling a name she only had heard for the first time only a couple of hours before. She experienced a variety of feelings she didn’t think were possible to be felt at such a short span of time.

First, she felt surprised and flustered. Then delighted for finally receiving her chance at true love, just to feel terrible in the next moment as she was reminded of the suffering it could bring. She even felt anger and jealousy, as her mind went back again to the ring in Minkyung’s hand, just a second before the girl ran past her and outside the place.

Somehow, it was like Kim had took all her hectic thoughts with her when she left. Ever since Yaebin couldn’t concentrate long enough to feel anything at all.

Was it one of the signals of their new connection? Was she feeling like this because Minkyung had rejected her?

Her phone vibrated on her pocket before the loud ringtone that was set as her mom’s exclusive tone, was heard. She could imagine what it was about and she didn’t want to deal with it in the moment.

She rested her face against her crossed arms on the table, closing her eyes, wishing she could sleep. She couldn’t, obviously.

None of her employees or clients interrupted her. Her phone wasn’t ringing anymore, making the place as quiet as possible. In a normal day, she could’ve slept soundly without trouble.

However, she didn’t. As she closed her eyes everything she could see was Minkyung. The friendly smile, the charming unique eyes, the way her hair fell over her shoulders in gentle waves; The small things like the subtle way she her voice would go a little higher when she got excited, or the little habit that she had of curving her lips in a funny way when she didn’t agree with something, even her soft yet unmistakable jasmine scent that seem to be all around Yaebin until now.

It was crazy, but in such a short period of time she had learnt so much about the other woman. It was like her mind had a special place prepared for everything related to Minkyung. She was afraid it was the same for her heart.

Yaebin had over seven years to imagine how her perfect partner would be, to pick every quality they should have and create a perfect picture in her head. Why all of sudden she couldn’t recall a thing? It was like Kim Minkyung had entered her system, dominating her mind and body in a blink of eyes.

She wasn’t sure if she liked it.

She had all the reasons to think it wasn’t the beginning of something good. After all, the last thing she wanted was to have a fate as bad as her mother’s.

Destiny, luck or love, whatever it was, it wouldn’t command her that easily. She knew better than to just blindly follow the desires of some high power that had forgotten about her when she needed the most.

The small Kang would deal with it just like she dealt with all the trouble her mother unknowingly caused to their business: calmly and efficiently.

She just hoped her heart would agree with it, otherwise she would be looking like the flustered mess she was earlier again.

On her phone she typed out a message to her best friend, hoping she wouldn’t be too busy to reply. She needed some distraction and advice right now, and Eunwoo was the only one who would be able to understand and help her with it.

In less than a minute a reply appeared on the phone’s screen, a simple and overly excited “YASS!” displayed.

 **“Thanks, Nunu.”** She whispered to herself as she typed “I’ll be over in 30. With food”.

She started to gather her stuff to leave the office. It wasn’t like her to close the store early, but it was almost time and she really couldn’t bring herself to concentrate on work that night.

She helped Yooa tend to the last clients and told the girl she could leave first, taking the task of closing the store to herself.

Eunwoo’s house wasn’t too far of there and she could go by foot. But first, she would stop by the greasy chicken restaurant down the street and finally render herself to the food the place served.

She would buy a lot of food and even more drinks, anything she needed to make her brave enough to tell her friend everything that had happened and to try to make herself feel better about it.

 

* * *

 

Finding your soulmate was supposed to be a happy event, perhaps the happiest day of your entire life. Minkyung, though, was feeling miserable. Not only for herself, but for Yaebin too.

They had met at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and now it all just seemed _wrong_.

The tall brunette wasn’t sure how much time she spent out there, sitting on the cold bench, receiving the merciless wind of what was supposed to be a warm spring night, but seemed as cold as the worst winter. She shivered, wiping the tears that streamed down her face with the coat’s sleeves before hugging herself.

She took some very deep breaths, telling herself to get a grip over her emotions and calm down – What didn’t work, but she couldn’t think of anything else to do now.

Growing up Kim had always being a calm and collected person, she had a sensitive nature, however it wasn’t like her to breakdown like this. Usually she would be able to hold everything inside, and she would only allow herself to cry her heart out when she was back home in the safety of her loved one’s arms. First her parents and Yewon, and now Kyungwon.

The fact that she couldn’t do this now made everything worst.

Still, she couldn’t help but let her heart act out, and before she realized she had dialed Kang’s number.

Minky grabbed the soft tissue of her coat with her free hand, pressing it against her cold fingers. Tension was running through her body like a river after a flood and she couldn’t let Kyungwon notice it. Not yet.

Kyungwon picked up the call after the second ring, her voice sounding light and bubbly as she answered.

**“Hello, Minkyungie! I’m already at the supermarket so no need to nag me! I bought ice cream and is your favorite flavor.”**

The younger girl was expecting the usual answer that would consist of a giggle and some sort of teasing about her always forgetting the important stuff because she was too busy buying junk food.

But it didn’t come. Instead, all Kang heard on the other side of the line were muffled sobs.

**“Minkyung? What happened? Are you okay?”**

Kim hold the phone with more strength than needed, using her other hand to cover her mouth as she tried to calm herself down. She needed to talk to Kyungwon right now, as if hearing her deep and warm voice would be enough to make everything seem normal again and calm her heart.

Unfortunately, the opposite happened, and now it was even harder to control her tears.

She felt like a traitor. Like she had broken all the promises they made through all these years.

It was nonsense, she had no control over the mark, but still she couldn’t help but think it was her fault somehow. **“I-I’m fine. Really.”** Minkyung managed to say, hoping that her voice didn’t sound as shaky as she was feeling now.

**“You don’t sound fine. Wait, I will switch to video mod-“**

**“No!”** The older woman cut off before Kyungwon had a chance to see her. She looked like a mess and she wouldn’t be able to hide it. **“I’m fine, but I’m working right now. I just took a quick break.”**

Kyungwon left out a frustrated sigh and for a moment all that could be heard in the call was Minkyung’s heavy breaths.

Kang knew her girlfriend like the back of her hand, and she didn’t need to see her to visualize in her mind how she looked now. The red nose and cheeks, her sharp eyes that would be puffed and blurred by the tears making her look like a scared kitten instead of an arctic fox.

**“Was it your boss again? I’ll go pick you up.”**

**“It’s not…Not it.”** Another muffled sob, badly disguised as a cough. **“I’m not in the office…It was just a tough day.”**

Minkyung wasn’t used to lying, she never needed to do so. Before being a couple, they were best friends and they had never kept secrets of each other.

Telling Kyungwon over the phone that she had a soulmate, however, wasn’t something she was ready to do. She probably wouldn’t be ready to do it even in person neither.

She didn’t want to think about it.

 **“You don’t want to talk about it. I get it.”** Of course Kyungwon understood, not that it made things any less frustrating to her. She was now outside the market with a hand full of plastic bags with food, considering if she shouldn’t just ignore what the girl said and run to try and find her, because only when she could see her and make Kim was fine, her heart would be at ease again.

Although her impulsive nature was urging her to act, she decide to respect Minky’s space and let her speak.

 **“I just needed to hear your voice.”** Minkyung finally confessed, even if she could only tell this much.

She wasn’t sure how receiving her mark would change things, how it would change _her_ , but right now she still felt the same and she didn’t want to embrace any other feelings.

**“Tell me about your day. Please.”**

**“Sungyeon gave me some rest, so I slept until late.”** Kyungwon’s tone still had an underlying concern to it, albeit she was trying to sound as carefree as always.

Whatever happened to Minky at work was something the woman wasn’t ready to share yet, therefore all she could do was to try to distract her and make her feel a little better.

**“I did a little side story to add at the end of each volume of the webtoon. I think you will like it.”**

**“What is it about?”** Minkyung asked, trying to focus only on the younger woman’s voice and forget about everything else. It was working, even if only a little.

**“It’s about an otter and a fox daily lives in the forest. The otter is a very cool one, but tends to get into trouble, so the clever fox always helps her out since the otter makes her life a little less boring.”**

A small, almost non visible, smile was slowly making it’s way to Kim’s face as she heard.

 **“You drew us?”** She once mentioned to the girl that they were just like an otter and an fox due to their looks and personalities. It was so long ago, but the girl still remembered it.

It was such a Kyungwon thing to do, thoughtful yet simple and fun.

**“Don’t tell Sungyeon or she will figure out that the grumpy turtle friend in the first chapter is her.”**

Minky shook her head in answer, even though she knew Kyungwon couldn’t see it. She should’ve laugh at it, and tease Kyungwon saying she would tell the young editor about her mischievousness.

However, she felt a sharp pain in her chest, that one feeling that wouldn’t just disappear and allow her to forget what about what had happened that day.

**“I need to go now…I need to finish some work.”**

Minkyung stood up, feeling a bit more like her normal self now. She knew she couldn’t simply ignore it, she wouldn’t be able to do so as the times passed.

But, even if only for today, she would try to enjoy the safe place that was her house. Her home where all the good memories were expecting her, where she could pretend everything was still the same and nothing would ever change.

 **“Just don’t take too long to get home, okay? I’ll be waiting.”** She could hear the sound of Kyungwon’s heavy footsteps through the phone, and she knew the girl was rushing to get home and welcome her.

 **“I’ll try my best.”** This much she could promise, no matter what, she would always try to do what was better for them. And now for someone else as well.

**“And Kyungwon?**

**“Yes, Minky?”**

**“I love you. Always.”**

Kang didn’t reply right away, she could tell something was wrong and it wasn’t one of their usual spontaneous demonstrations of love.

**“I love you too, Minkyung. Now come home before I eat all the ice cream.”**

 

* * *

 

Minkyung made sure to take a very different route, staying as far away as possible of the bookstore. It wasn’t like she disliked the girl, per contrary, she had liked the girl almost instantly. But not she didn’t knew how much of this affection was genuine, perhaps it was just part of the connection every soulmate had. The thought made her feel awful all over again. She couldn’t meet Yaebin now, she was way too afraid of how it could affect and she ashamed for being so weak to fear her own feelings.

A dry, humorless chuckle left out her lips. The whole situation made her realize she wasn’t such as mature as she thought, otherwise she wouldn’t be here now, entering the first drug store she could find.

She asked for the bandages and left as soon as she had them, rushing to find a quiet place where she could wrap it around her hand. It was the epitome of cowardice, to hide something so important of the person that only deserved her honesty. But she promised herself it wouldn’t be for too long – She hoped she could keep the promise.

The idea of simply ignore what happened and try to get rid of the mark was tempting. However, she knew better than try this.

Wrapping the white bandage around her unharmed wrist and hand was harder than she thought. The fact that her hands were still shaking slightly didn’t help neither.

She felt frustrated, with herself, with the world, with her unfortunate fate.

Kim cursed, trying to contain a new wave of tears and wrapped the bandage with more strength to cover up her soulmate mark. She could have asked for a simple small band aid to cover the red area, but it would’ve been too obvious.

Minky finished the work, the bandage messily wrapped was something anyone would see and could already predict all the questions she would receive due to it. However, she would rather having Kyungwon worried about her fake injuries, than having her figuring out everything so soon.

She bite down on her lips, so hard is broke the tender skin. The mark, somehow, had already changed her, and not for the best.

Kim took her time, redoing her makeup to cover up all the traces of crying. She needed to gather all courage she could to go through this night with a smile, even if a fake one, on her face. She would only go home when she had regained at least part of her self control.

Minkyung was trapped. No matter what she did, or decide to _not_ do, someone would end up hurt…She already was. Now it was all about delaying it.

 

* * *

 

 **“Beer, soju and fried chicken?! Who are you and what did you do to my Kang Yaebin?!”** The blonde girl with small hands and pretty monolid eyes, better known as her friend Jung Eunwoo, said as soon as she opened the door to welcome the shorter girl into her home.

 **“Shut up before I regret spending so much on making your cheeks even puffier.”** Yaebin replied entering the small apartment, heading to the kitchen to lay down the food on the table. She took a look around, noticing the place was surprisingly clean despite Eunwoo’s messy habits.

 **“Not complaining, just surprised.”** The blonde gave her an interrogative look before reaching out to get the beer cans out of the plastic bag. **“Since when you started drinking?”**

Yaebin grimaced, taking the can out of her hand and opening it in a swift motion. She took a sip, ignoring how the liquid tasted terrible to her unaccustomed palate.

**“I don’t drink in _normal_ days, what makes today an exception.” **

Eunwoo had her puppy like eyes still on her, as if she had grown another head or something equally shocking, instead of just drink some cheap beer.

 **“Well, just so you know, drinking won’t help to solve your problems.”** The girl said, in one of the rare occasions where her usually goofy personality gives space to her more serious and wise side. The moment didn’t last long. **“But at least it will distract you a bit. So don’t worry and go for it. I will look after you.”**

 **“I will tell you. Later.”** Jung rested a hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. Yaebin gave her grateful smile in return. As loud and messy as she could be at times, Eunwoo was still a great friend.

 **“Show me how to do that soju bomb that made you pass out last month.”** Kang asked, deciding to postpone the serious topics for later. She knew once they start talking about the soulmate mark, things would get a solemn turn that she wasn’t ready yet to face. Besides, she knew all too well that this topic wouldn’t be pleasant for Eunwoo neither.

 **“Ya! I didn’t pass out, I was just a bit tipsy.”** The protest came as expected, however Jung was already opening the bottles to demonstrate her newest trick.

**“The barman had to call me because you refused to get into a cab and then decided to sleep _and_ _drool_ over his counter.” **

**“It was just a nap! Everyone does it once in a while...”** She wave her hand in dismissal, holding the green soju bottle as she pointed out accusatorily to Kang. **“And I don’t drool!”**

Yaebin rolled her eyes, getting one of the chicken fried thighs and pushing it into Nunu’s mouth.

 **“Yes, sure, that’s why people were taking pictures of you and tagging it as the first ever drunk Shiba Inu they had seen.”** She proceed with their usual banter, enjoying the light conversation.

Her cellphone was still turned off, avoiding her mom’s insistent calls. Her hands busy opening the lids of all the food containers, getting ready to drown herself in all that unhealthy, but ridiculously tasty food. Occasionally she could still catch a glimpse of the red mark in her hand, albeit she tried her best to not stare at it. For a little longer, she would try to ignore all her problems.

She spent twenty three years without a mark, without a so called soulmate to support and love her when she needed the most. She wasn’t sure if she even wanted one now. Especially one that ran away as soon as they met.

Later she would worry about it and try to decide what she should do.

Right now she would rather focus on Eunwoo’s hearty laugh (that was making the girl choke on all the chicken she was trying to eat, but those were details).

 

* * *

 

Unlike what most people thought, Kyungwon was a very observant person. At least in what comes down to the things and people she cared about. Minkyung, particularly, was someone whom she could notice every little thing about. Albeit, even if she wasn’t very attentive, there was no way she wouldn’t notice something was off when she saw her girlfriend that night.

The bandage that involved Minkyung’s left wrist and part of her hand was definitely not a small detail.

 **“I broke a glass today at work. It bleed a lot, but it wasn’t that bad. I just exaggerated a bit with the bandage, because you know, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”** Kim had explained, in such tone that it looked like she was reading right from a script instead of telling what really happened.

It added to the call she received earlier was more than enough to make her concerned. Maybe she was overthinking, but it was hard to not when Minky wasn’t telling her the whole truth.

They had dinner and the taller girl ate fast, rushing to hide on the bathroom with the excuse of taking a shower. Just another odd event for her usually calm girlfriend.

It was hard for Kyungwon to not imagine all sort of things to explain what was going on. Most of them involved Minky’s unreasonable boss and her even more unreasonable requests. She had seen her girlfriend suffer many times because of that job, but a physical injury? It was a complete new level and the thought of it was enough to make her blood boil.

At the same time, she doubted Minkyung would have hidden it if it was really the case. Her girlfriend was a strong, smart woman, she wouldn’t allow anyone to bully her to this extent. Would she? That job was important, but they weren’t in such a desperate situation to have to put up with this kind of abuse only to make some money.

Minkyung had told her earlier that she wasn’t at the office. So when exactly she had hurt herself? If she hurt herself, why would she be running errands after work hours outside the company instead of coming home? No matter how Kyungwon looked at it, things didn’t add up.

 She sat on the bed, giving a glance to the drawing she made earlier in the hopes of lifting up Kim’s mood, but that was now laying on her nightstand, forgotten.

 **“Hey, let me have a look at this now. I told you I’d help you with the bandage.”** She said as a greeting when the brunette finally emerged of the shower. Kyungwon eyes had went straight to her hand, noticing a brand new bandage on it, perhaps the reason why the taller woman had took so long to get out.

**“Oh, as you see I already took care of it. I told you, it is no big deal.”**

Minky was never the type that rejected help, specially for something like this. It was hard for Kyungwon to understand why she was acting like this now.

 **“That’s funny coming from you. Weren’t you the one that said we should take care of each other?”** Kang arched one eyebrow, before tapping the space next to her in the bed. **“Come on. Let me see it.”**

There was a glimpse of hesitation in her eyes, but Kim did as her girlfriend asked. However, instead of letting Kyungwon check on the wound, she simply held her hands, giving it a gentle squeeze.

 **“It’s fine. _I’m_ fine.” ** She faced the younger woman, her smile growing bigger, yet not reaching her eyes as she spoke. **“I’m sorry for worrying you.”**

Kyungwon narrowed her eyes, biting down on her bottom lip to refrain from asking Minkyung why she was lying to her. Did she really think she could fool anyone? It was hard to not demand answers, but the nervousness in her face and her fragile smile on her face were enough to make Kyungwon decide to not say anything.

 **“You know you can tell me anything.”** Kang reassured, as she pulled Minky for a tight hug. She hated to be in the dark, not knowing what was happening to her girl, unable to help her. She also hated the feeling of being pushed away, even if it was not on purpose. **“I only worry because I care.”**

Her hands caressed Minky’s back in slow, calming, motions. Kyungwon kissed her soft hair, resting her chin against the girl’s shoulder, refusing to let go off of her.

Jasmine scent was flooding all her senses, it was mixed with something very special, unique to Minkyung, a combination that created Kyungwon’s favorite scent in the world. She was supposed to be comforting the older woman, not the other way around, but the fact was that the closeness also had a strong effect over her, allowing her to relax against the brunette.

Minkyung hugged her by neck, a hand wrapping itself around her nape while the other kept a close grip on Kyungwon’s back. Minky’s face was hidden on the gentle curve of artist’s neck, her warm and steady breath against the sensitive skin, so close she could feel her lips softly touching it as the woman spoke – Kang would have melted in such a warm embrace in any other occasion.

Minkyung had a clingy side to her, however, there was a sense of urgency and need in the contact.

 **“I’m better now that I’m here with you.”** Minky’s voice sounded like it was supposed to, there were no undertones this time, no cracks, no muffled sobs.

The younger woman still had an odd feeling on the back of her mind, although she ignored it as soon as her girlfriend backed away slightly to give her a smile. Not a robotic, tired and lifeless smile, but her usual one, the one that started at her beautiful eyes making the corners of it crinkle and slowly grow to lit up her whole face. Kyungwon’s favorite smile.

She leaned in to plant a light kiss on the girl’s forehead, before resting her own against it. Being this close she could see every single tone of brown and gray that composed the brunette’s eyes, she could see the glimpse of unsureness and fear in them, but mostly she could see the undeniable fondness and love in it. Her own dark chocolate eyes were probably reflecting the same.

Soft rosy lips met her own, sending small pleasant shivers through her body, not failing in making her heart skip one or two beats. It was so natural for them, they had done it so many times before, yet she cherished each moment, thankful for a night that started out in such ominous way could end up in a high note.

The soft kissed soon become more intense, deep ones. When they parted due to the need to breathe, Kyungwon was panting and had her usual playful grin on her face.

 **“I’ll call your work tomorrow and tell them you are sick. It’s friday and you are injured, it’s only fair.”** She informed, trying to sound as resolute as possible. No matter what happened that day, it had affect the brunette and she needed a break even if her stubbornness couldn’t admit it. **“I’ll stay with you and we can watch the dramas you wanted. I’ll show you the new drawings as well, and we can go to the park later.”**

Naturally Minkyung would protest, her overly responsible and perfectionist self couldn’t simple agree on avoiding her duties with a fake excuse. She didn’t though.

Instead, she combed her fingers through Kyungwon’s middle length dark hair and smiled loving at her. Kang could swear she saw a gleam of guilt cross her eyes for a second, soon there was nothing but fondness in them again.

 **“Sounds perfect.”** Was all that she said before pulling her in for another kiss.

 


	5. Mismatched

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flashbacks are in italic. This chapter will be focused on Yaebin's story.

_Yaebin did what she always did when finally got home after a long and boring school day. She kicked off her sneakers, throw her bag and tie on the couch and ran to the kitchen to try to find leftovers to kill her teenager hunger._

_But instead of food she found her mom sitting at the kitchen table. Not her usual mom, a red eyed crying mess version of her._

**_“Mom? What's wrong?”_ ** _She asked, fearing what she would hear as answer. She couldn't recall a time where she had seen her mom cry before, at least not like this. The older woman was an easy going type of person, a little bit of an air head that would spend her days distracting herself with do yourself art works and buying useless things that she would regret not longer after._

_Her mother didn't reply, her sobs becoming louder as she slammed her hands against the table muttering words the young Kang couldn't comprehend._

_Yaebin, whom was only fourteen at the time, found herself completely confused and unsure about what to do. She wanted to comfort her mother, albeit she was scared of what reaction it would produce since her simple question had already made things worse._

_Hesitantly she approached the older brunette, her hands gently embracing the woman as she whispered comforting words. **“I'm sorry, mom. I didn't mean to disturb you.”** She managed to say, caressing her hair, mimicking what the woman would do to comfort her when she was little. **“It's okay, I'm here. Just tell me how can I help? Please, mommy.”** _

_Once again her words didn't help at all. Hwang Min, her mother, cry just got worse. Her usually perfect make up was completely ruined, her face becoming bloated due to the crying and marked by the tears._

_Yaebin felt like crying as well, even though she had no idea why the other woman was crying, she still could feel the pain in every sob Gwang Min left out._

_Her mom never answered her questions. The minutes went by as she cried until she could barely breath, her daughter never letting go of her in a weak attempt of making the woman feel better._

_Yaebin only understood what happened when her little brother came home with a mournful expression on his face and a hurt look in his eyes. It seemed like he was doing his best to hold on the tears. The boy came close, hugging both women and apologizing for whatever reason Yaebin didn't know._

_Having her brother around didn't help to calm her down, it was the opposite, it made her realize that things were probably far worse than she could've imagined._

_Her aunt and uncle walked in after a couple of minutes, their expression mirroring the one on her brother's face._

_Yaebin didn't need to be very smart, and she was pretty clever, to imagine what happened._

_Later on, sitting on the messy couch where she would usually lay down and lazily watch TV, she heard the worst news of her life. Yet, at this point she was expecting such a thing. Her dad, the short man with a bright smile and intelligent eyes that everyone said resembled hers, was no longer alive._

_Violent crimes weren't common in their society anymore. However, it was impossible to stop death. From all possible things, a cardiac arrest had taken her dad away. He was working at the bookstore as usual, then there was a sudden pain on his chest and it was over before rescue could come._

_For Yaebin it still sounded unreal._

_She had seen her dad earlier, and received a kiss on the cheek as he tried once again to convince her to start working at the bookstore. He always claimed that it would be a good bonding experience and she could also make some extra money, but Yaebin had never been that much of a bookworm and she already felt overwhelmed with school, so she always reject the offers saying she would do it when she had more free time...Now the girl wished she had accept his offers before. Maybe if she was there with him, helping to take care of stuff and deal with annoying customers, he wouldn’t have...A deep, hurtful sigh left her body._

_Her rational side knew she it was nonsense, that it wouldn’t have change a thing. Yet, her mind was filled with ‘what if’s’ and she couldn’t bring herself to ignore all the possibilities. Perhaps Yaebin wouldn’t have been able to keep her dad alive, but at least she could have tried to save him somehow._

_Even after the hours passes, her mom didn’t show any signs of recovering from her mental breakdown. On the funeral house she was crying even harder than before, holding onto a big portrait of her husband and saying things that didn’t make much sense – Or at least Yaebin liked to think they didn’t, it was better than to acknowledge her whispers about wanting to go with him. She really would rather to not hear it. She could barely function knowing her dad wouldn’t be around anymore, she wouldn’t be able to keep going if something happened to her mom as well._

  
_Her little brother had finally given up on his strong man façade, acting now like the broken hearted boy he really was. Her aunt and uncles were trying their best to comfort him. They would have done the same for her, but the girl was too focused on her own pain to be able to accept their kind words and gestures. Kang was silently crying, sitting in a corner of the large mourning room where her dad’s body arrive soon._

_Yaebin was hugging her knees tight, resting her head against it. She could feel the energy slowly leaving her body. Her mind that earlier was filled with memories of her dad now was turning into a blank space. She never thought it could happen to him. What her family was going to do now? How could they keep going when the man wasn’t around comforting them with his kind eyes and warm smile?_

_To know that she wouldn’t ever see him again was enough to make her heart sink deep into her chest, the pain washing over her as the tears kept falling down from her eyes in a steady stream._

_The small girl lost track of the time as the sobs kept on shaking her, the pain too great to allow her to do anything else._

**_“I know it hurts, sweetie. But you are not the only one. We need to stay together now.”_ ** _A familiar, steady and surprisingly calm voice, sounded as her grandmother approach her. The older woman squeezed her shoulder in a comforting way, prompting her to stand up so she could embrace her in a tight hug._

_Yaebin felt her legs weak, as if she was about to pass out. However, the warm hug was keeping her in place. Her grandma’s scent was slowly reaching her, helping to calm the girl down. The older woman wasn’t crying, she had a heartbroken expression on her face, but there was so much strength on it as well. Yaebin had lost her father, but that woman had lost her kid and it was equally painful, but she wasn’t showing it, instead she was making sure the rest of the family would live through it._

_The older woman guided her back to her mother and brother, telling them to get ready to greet the people and receive the condolences as they were supposed to. The younger Kang did as she was told, trying her best to hold the tears and get over with it as fast as she could. Her mom was still out of it and her little brother was doing his best to comfort her. She wasn’t in good shape, but she couldn’t let her grandmother do all the work._

_That night was the longest night of her life, albeit the day after wasn’t much better._

_Her dad had taken with him all the balance the Kang family had, leaving them broken and lost. Gwang Min couldn’t accept the loss of her soulmate, she would cling to every little thing her husband ever owned, oscillating between moments of silent cries and erratic episodes of denial. She had become obsessed with the kids safety and health, in a way she wouldn’t even allow Yaebin to go to school in the first days. That’s why her grandmother stepped in, urging her mother to leave their old house behind and follow the older woman back to the Kang’s hometown, somewhere near the ocean._

_Those were hard times. They had to leave their old lives to learn how to live in this new world where her dad was only a memory. Yaebin had cried her eyes out when they had to leave their house, however she cried even more when they closed down the bookstore. She knew how much her father loved the place and how much effort he had put on it. Her mother would never agree on selling the place, but they couldn’t afford to leave it like that, so they had to pack all the books and keep it in a warehouse and rent the place to one of their neighbors._

_Grandmother told her that they could open the bookstore again when things got better, and albeit it wasn’t the intention of the older woman, it had left a big impression on the girl that decided in that day that she would do her best to get the place back to its original purpose._

_They moved out to Busan just a couple of months before she began high school, in the hopes that a new place would make things a little bit better. And it did, to some extent, but it was impossible to ignore the pain of losing someone you love so much. This pain seemed much greater to her mom, like a scar that never healed completely and left her forever hurt._

_Her high school years weren’t easy, as she had to assume a new position in their family. She had become more responsible and attentive, trying to compensate for her mother’s defeated attitude. Yaebin never blamed the woman for it. People used to say that to lose your soulmate was like losing a piece of yourself and looking at her mother she could see it clearly. So, instead she tried her best to help her get back at her feet and recover, doing all the woman asked her to and hoping it would be enough._

_On her fifteen birthday that year she prayed to find her soulmate, but more than this, she prayed that whoever it was, they were safe and happy. She was learning how much pain a connection as powerful as the soulmate mark could bring, but she had also witnessed how much happiness it could bring. Yaebin couldn’t help but think that everything would be better when she met her own match, maybe only then she would be able to feel like herself again._

_In that same year, a girl who had celebrate her sixteen birthday with similar hopes, was also waiting impatiently for her mark to appear. However, this girl wasn’t expecting to meet someone new, instead she was counting the days until a certain date of november, in the hope that she could confirm what her heart was telling her all along._

_Yaebin had always wait for her soulmate, not knowing that her soulmate was already wishing for someone else. The day her father passed away had took with it not only her beloved progenitor, but also her chance of meeting Minkyung at the right time, and perhaps it had also took away her only chance of having a happy ending with her._

 

* * *

 

 **“Eunwoo?”** Yaebin asked quietly. She was laying down on the couch, in a position where she could see her sleepy friend seating in a weird pose in one of the armchairs that she had in the room. She was sure the girl wasn’t drunk yet, even though they had a fair share of alcohol – Nunu was a pretty light drinker and Yaebin wasn’t used to it, so they weren’t exactly prepared to drink all night long no matter what the blonde insisted on saying.

The slightly older girl was probably just feeling the effects of all the fried chicken she had eaten with incredible speed. Perhaps she was shocked that a ‘fitness freaky’ like Kang had actually bought junk food for once, and thought it was better to just eat it all before the woman changed her mind.

 **“Hm?”** Eunwoo replied, watching the brunette through narrow eyes. She still had the empty can of beer in hand, too lazy to disposal it properly. She was about to say they should call it a night when Yaebin talked. Her small friend wasn’t acting like her usual energetic self. They had met back on freshman year in college and become quite close, Eunwoo could see that something was bothering the girl even if she didn’t say anything. Jung was expecting that the girl would eventually tell her what was really going on and maybe she could be of some help – Yaebin wouldn’t agree with her crazy plans most likely, but it usually was enough to make the other feel a bit better.

However, she wasn’t expecting the question that came up. Out of all topics, this one was definitely the one that she liked the least.

 **“Eunwoo, how it feels like when you meet your soulmate?”** Her tone was serious, her dark eyes not leaving the girl’s as she waited for the answer. Yaebin had never questioned her about it. It was a delicate and painful topic for both of them, for very different reasons.

Eunwoo didn’t reply right away. She finally let go of the beer can, her hands pressing against each other as she tried to keep her cool.

 **“It’s like…”** She started, trying to organize her confused thoughts. It was so long ago, yet she still could recall the moment with clarity and it was able to bring her both, pain and happiness at once. She could say that it was like someone had just snatched her heart out of her chest and had it in a tight grip and letting her no choice other than trust that they would take good care of it. However, she knew it wasn’t the kind of answer Yaebin was expecting, therefor she answered in the simplest way she could. **“It’s just like when you think you lost your wallet and then you panic for a moment and gets all desperate and stuff…Only to find it right after and suddenly you are so relieved and glad to see it even though you always had it.”** She left out a small, awkward chuckle. **“It’s like receiving the best gift, but it was yours all along and you have no idea why you only got it now.”**

Yaebin nodded, keeping her silence for a moment. What Jung said made sense in a strange way. In one moment she was living her routine normally and in the other Kim Minkyung was there and it felt like she had always been a part of her life, completing it like it was meant to be.

But it wasn’t, or at least, it didn’t feel like it now.

It was like fate was pranking her, testing her reactions and ruining her comfortable existence.

She stood up, feeling Eunwoo’s eyes on her back as she moved around the room, looking for the picture frame she knew was exposed on the wall. It was a picture of herself and the blonde, back in their college days. They both had big smiles on their faces, it had been a good day and they were genuinely happy.

The three of them.

Her finger traced down the picture, finding the pretty black haired girl that was between Yaebin and Eunwoo. Her smile was even bigger than the others, a cute wrinkle on her nose revealing she was about to laugh. The girl was always laughing, her bubbly personality was even more beautiful than her face.

She didn’t turn around to face her friend before asking. **“But…How it feels to lose your soulmate?”**

This time, a heavy, long silence followed her words. She didn’t take it back though.

 **“It’s like that one time I tried to adopt a kitten just to find out I was allergic and had to return it.”** Eunwoo’s intention was to joke to keep the sadness away of the moment, however it sounded more bitter and sarcastic than she intended. The blonde sighed, sitting properly on the armchair.

Her gaze found the picture as well, her eyes drinking in every little detail that she already knew so well. On her closet, inside a box she couldn’t bring herself to open, there were many more pictures telling their whole story. Eunwoo wasn’t brave enough to face it all. She only kept that one picture because Yaebin was also included on it, and somehow to know that at least one of the persons that was the cause of her happiness back then, was still alive and well gave her some comfort. She never meant to hide it all, it was just to hard to face it now, even after so much time.

 **“You saw it for yourself more than once. I guess you know how it is.”** Her tone was lifeless this time. She knew Kang had her reasons to ask it all of sudden, still it didn’t make easier to talk about. **“It’s like losing your source of strength. Losing your home. Losing everything that makes you complete.”** She ran a hand through her messy blond hair, trying to keep the tears away. She wish she could say that the drinks were making her more emotional, but as Yaebin knew, she was naturally emotive and it was almost impossible to hold back.

 **“I used to look at it every day, afraid it would vanish someday and take away the memories of her with it _._ That if the mark was erased, she would disappear from my heart as well.” ** She said, touching the faded mark on her left palm. Her mark appeared on her first day of college, back then it was of a bright red where a name could be seem in pretty calligraphy, Joo Kyulkyung. Now she could barely see it. She had no idea what would really happen once the mark was gone completely, and she tried her best to not think about it. **“You know, it’s funny because if it really happens all the pain would go away, but still, I guess I’d rather to live with the painful memories than to don’t remember her at all.”**

Yaebin gave the picture one last look before turning around to go sit closer to Eunwoo again. She hated how hurt her friend sounded, how much losing her soulmate had broken her. Eunwoo was better at dealing with it than Yaebin’s mother was, but it was still something terrible to go through.

 **“I don’t think you would ever forget her, you guys were too good together.”** She hugged the girl by the shoulders, giving her a small smile. Eunwoo returned it after a moment, leaning in to rest against Yaebin’s shoulder.

Kang allowed the girl to recover completely before talking again.

   **“I’m sorry for asking about it today, but I…I need to tell you something.”**

Eunwoo’s eyes were still a little red when she looked at her with a glimpse of curiosity. **“And what about it?”**

Yaebin’s answer was a simple gesture, opening her left hand to show her newly received mark. The blonde’s eyes grew wider as she looked at it, taking Kang’s hand between her own to look at it more closely. **“Oh my god!”**

 **“And that’s not all.”** She retrieved her hand, getting ready to tell the girl everything that had happen that night.

 

* * *

 

When she finished her narrative, Eunwoo decided they needed a lot more fried chicken to help deal with such a messy situation – Yaebin didn’t see how it could help with anything, but considering that it was her only day off of her diet, she didn’t try to refrain the other girl from buying more food. She even suggest for them to get pizza instead.

Eunwoo was shocked at how calm Yaebin was, if she was in her position she would probably have ran after the girl and demand some explanations. She wanted to help the brunette and she couldn’t just sit around and to nothing. **“What is wrong with this girl? I mean, you are not that bad all! Is it because you are short? Because I can totally fight her!”** Throughout the years she saw Yaebin go from a hopeful girl that still believe in love and the power of fate, although she already had strong reasons to not, slowly become more and more skeptical about all that. That girl should’ve popped up in her life long time ago, and now when she finally does, she simply leaves her best friend like she was no good? Eunwoo couldn’t understand and she didn’t like it at all.

The way the girl war arguing using her slice of pizza as a weapon was _totally_ unintimidated, besides Yaebin knew all too well that Eunwoo’s to go strategy in a fight was to run as fast as she could (and she wasn’t very fast to begin with). However, she was glad for the protective reaction. It was good to know she had someone on her side and to talk about it made her feel a little better.

  **“I think it won’t be needed, but thank you for the offer anyway.”** Kang left out a small laugh, chewing on her own slice of pizza. She could always count on Eunwoo to lift her mood.

 **“I think she might have someone already.”** The shorter girl said after finishing her food and before Nunu could crack another joke.

Eunwoo stopped midway while chewing her food, looking at her with curious eyes and puff cheeks full of pizza that she forceful swallowed down. **“Yaebs, it can’t be. She is your soulmate, she can’t have another.”**

 **“Well, she might not have another soulmate, but she still can have a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. Or even a fiancé…I don’t know.”** She sighed, scratching the back of her head in distress.

Jung considered the idea for a moment, shaking her head slightly. **“Maybe. But still, doesn’t everyone already have their own soulmates by our age? Believe me, it is not that easy to date around anymore. I know that. Mom tried to put me on a dating service once and they could only find old widower men!”**

It was Yaebin’s turn to nod. **“I know. But she also had plenty of time to look for someone, I mean, I don’t even know if I can blame her for doing it.”** Think about it still gave her an unpleasant feeling, something that she was starting to associate with jealousy.  She didn’t like it at all. Whatever Minkyung had been doing with her life prior their meeting wasn’t her problem, actually, even now she shouldn’t be prying into the older girl’s life. With or without mark, they weren’t more than acquaintances at best. **“And I guess…No, I’m sure, I saw something. She had a ring on her hand and the way she ran away after she noticed the marked…She seemed crushed.”**

The shorter girl grimaced, taking a sip of Eunwoo’s soda – Another thing her mother wouldn’t approve if she ever knew about it, but well, her mother wouldn’t approve anything she had done that night.

Life had brought her soulmate and took it away within a minute, yet here she was eating junk food and drinking all she wasn’t supposed to as a way of ease the pain. Very mature of her part.

 **“And what are you going to do about it? There’s only one way to know.”** Eunwoo claimed her cup back, finishing its content before Yaebin could do so.

 **“She was the one that ran away, not me. Is not like I can just show up at her doorstep…I don’t even know where she lives.”** She sighed. All info she had about the girl was the small things Minkyung told her, that was mainly about books, and the fact that she worked for a big publishing company.

 **“I was talking about stalking her social media accounts and stuff, but this could work too.”** She shrugged, making it look like it was that simple. Yaebin rolled her eyes, it wasn’t the time for Eunwoo’s weird plans **. “No, listen! You should try to check it, even if only to know if she is not married or something. Do you really want to live with the doubt?”**

Or perhaps she should listen to her only this once.

Yaebin pressed her lips in a tight line. She couldn’t deny the idea was tempting and part of her was urging her to do as the blonde said and get over with it already. But another part of herself was still feeling afraid and insecure.

Kim Minkyung was no one for her, only a girl she met for a couple of hours. Yet, she knew deep down that when she had the confirmation that her soulmate was already taken, it would break her heart and she wasn’t ready for it.

**“I’ll think about it. But I guess now we both need some time.”**

She stood up, beginning to fix the mess that she and Eunwoo had made, leaving no room for the other girl to argue.

The blonde bite down on her bottom lip, refraining from saying that if Yaebin wasn’t doing it, she would get some information herself. She needed to make sure her friend would get her happy ending, even if it was one without her sneaky soulmate. Yaebin had lived just fine until now, Eunwoo wouldn’t allow anyone to ruin it.

Jung groaned when she pulled her up to help out, but the girl started to clean up as well.

They finished cleaning up, storing all the leftovers on her fridge, Eunwoo would probably be eating that for the rest of the week.

 **“Can I crash here tonight?”** Kang asked, already walking towards Eunwoo’s bedroom. She had been there way too many times, and they both knew her request was only a formality.

 **“As if it wasn’t your plan since the beginning! Just don’t wake me up before noon.”** The blonde agreed, following her down the hall. She even handed out one of her pajamas to the brunette, but not before reinforce her previous warning. **“And don’t even get me started on how morning runs are good for you!”**

Yaebin just shrugged, taking the clothes out of her hands and heading to the bathroom to change. However, she stopped at the doorstep, turning to face her blonde friend. **“Thank you for today. I’ll make you breakfast tomorrow.”**

The blonde’s expression softened, making her sleepy puppy face look even more cuter. **“Non healthy breakfast?”**

Yaebin smiled in return. **“It will be healthy! But won’t taste like it, I promise.”** Nunu made a face, muttering something in response, but she didn’t listened to it already entering the bathroom to take a much needed bath.

 


	6. Secrets

**“Are you ready? We should get going if we want to see Yewon before the concert.”** Kyungwon said, adjusting her bag on her shoulder. It was a hot day and she was wearing comfortable clothes, grateful that the concert was in an open space and she didn’t need to dress up for it. Usually she would be the one to be late, no the other way around.

But things weren’t working like they used to anymore.

Minkyung was so tense lately, distracted for no reason and getting flustered when she would realize it. She was acting like she was hiding something.

Kim had left the room to fix her makeup and change the bandage on her hand, but it was taking too long and Kyungwon couldn’t help but feel a bit worried about it.

Kang wasn’t an intrusive person, at least she liked to think she wasn’t. Yes, she could be a little on the jealous side, but it wasn’t like her to pry onto her girlfriend’s business. Yet, she wasn’t blind.

In the morning after Minky got home with that weird bandage, Kyungwon had woken up earlier than the girl to call Kim’s work and inform she wouldn’t be coming. After it she decided to try to make some breakfast for the two of them instead of going back to bed. She wanted to give them a relaxing and fun day for once. But first she needed to wash off and try to shake off her sleepiness, so she had headed to the bathroom and that was when she noticed something off.

Minky had bought a bunch of extra bandages and stocked it up in the cabinet, what made Kyungwon wonder how bad her wound really was. One of the packages on the floor near the trash can, Minkyung might have dropped it when she was changing her bandages. Kyungwon had grabbed the paper and opened the trash can’s lid to throw it away properly, but she stopped mid motion. Kang had thrown out all the trash yesterday and the can was almost empty except for the bandages and the adhesive tape on it, all these things were white. Pure white, as if it had never been used. The girl furrowed her eyebrows, puzzled by the fact that there wasn’t a single blood stain on the bandages. If Minky had injured herself, shouldn’t there be blood? She had spent hours with it, how come there wasn’t even a drop of blood on it? It didn’t make any sense, and it only got worse when Kyungwon remembered the fact that the girl had refused to let her see the wound.

Kang didn’t want to question her girlfriend’s word, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something really wrong and Minkyung was trying her best to hide it.

So she did what she could to keep the other girl happy, hoping it would make her comfortable enough to accept her help and open up about whatever was going on.

It didn’t work.

The days passed and the questions on her mind were still unanswered, giving place to new ones that she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answers for.

Minkyung was clinging onto her more than usual, creating excuses to just spend time together and avoiding any of their usual family meetings. The taller woman was even slacking off on work, and this was such _not_ a Kim Minkyung thing do to that it was almost scary. Kyungwon couldn’t say she disliked it, she was the happiest when Minky was around.

She took Minkyung to her favorite places and they discovered a few new ones too. They kissed and hugged more often, every touch charged with more than love, but also certain need that she never felt before. They didn’t talk though, not for real. They kept the conversation light and easy, and even if sometimes brown haired girl felt the urge of questioning her girlfriend tired of staying in the dark, but it would take a look into Minkyung’s fragile eyes to make her change her mind.

Instead, Kyungwon started to buy extra bandages for her fake wounds, and hot chocolate for herself to keep away the coldness of mistrust.

It’s been a week and Minkyung still kept the bandage tied around her perfectly fine hand. One week and the woman hadn’t said a thing about it. Kyungwon’s worries were slowly turning into suspicions and now she had a rather bittersweet theory of her own.

Kyungwon never thought of herself as specially gifted when it comes down to brains, but it was the first time that she wished she wasn’t clever indeed, because like this her dumb theory would remain as only it and they would be okay.

But the girl knew deep inside that she was anything but dumb when it comes down to Minkyung.

 

 

* * *

 

Minkyung closed her left hand tight, her free hand touching the promise ring that she still kept on her finger. It was a simple silver ring, after all they weren’t more than broken college students when Kyungwon had got them a set. However, the slightly shorter girl had design the charming flower pattern that they had engraved onto it later, making the ring a very personal and special thing for Minkyung. They hadn’t talk about it yet, but she knew Kyungwon was planning on making things official soon enough and replace that ring with another one that she was keeping not so secretly in her studio for months.

Minky was feeling terrible for wearing the ring in the same hand she had someone else’s soul mark, she couldn’t even imagine on putting on a wedding ring right now. No matter how little control she had over fate, she still felt responsible for betraying her girlfriend's trust and their promises.

Kang’s voice sounded from the outside of the bathroom door and the brunette took a deep breathe.

 **“I’m almost ready, just give me a minute.”** She asked, finally finishing wrapping the bandages back around her hand.

It’s been a week, a whole damn week, and yet she still couldn’t bring herself to confess everything to Kyungwon. She was a coward. Every day she would pray that the mark had disappeared. Every morning she would feel fear and hope crawling through her body as she took away the white fabric that she used to cover the tattoo. But every time the fear would win as she would face once more the red mark with Yaebin’s name on it, making it clear that no matter what she did it would never go away.

She tried all that she could to erase it. She would use every chance to research about it, to try and use every crazy suggestion to make it go away. Yet, the only thing it did was hurt her soft skin and break her spirit with every failed attempt. Kim was barely paying attention to her work anymore, so focused on the mark that cursed her perfectly constructed life and left her on her own to fix it. Every day she would fear being caught, but she couldn’t bring herself to stay away of Kyungwon, instead she would just clung onto her even more, afraid of losing the person she always considered as the love of her life.

Her hands were shaking as she tried to compose herself. It was becoming harder and harder to keep the truth to herself, but she knew that telling Kyungwon about it would change their relationship for good, and even if it was selfish of her, she wanted to enjoy their life together as it had always been, only for a little longer.

She had managed to make them skip her family dinner last week, just like Yewon’s concert – For what she was feeling terrible about – with the excuse that she wasn’t feeling well and her girlfriend was kind enough to believe in her blatant lies. Minkyung didn’t want to face anymore suspicious looks and well intentioned questions, she didn’t want to lie to more people that she loved.

However, she couldn’t avoid it now. Yewon called her and pretty much demanded her (in her best _aegyo_ voice) presence in the event today. Her parents would be there as well, she couldn’t simply ditch them again.

 **“Just one last time.”** She promised herself, aware of the fact that she was running out of time. She would enjoy the evening the best way she could and after…Well, she didn’t wanted to think about it now.

Minky forced a smile, nodding to her own reflection in the mirror before leaving the bathroom to meet Kyungwon’s grin.

**“It was about time! Let’s go, Yewon will pout throughout the whole performance if we don’t arrive in time.”**

Kyungwon grabbed her by the hand, determined to lead her toward the exit before she could try and escape again with a new excuse.

Minkyung left out a small laugh that still lacked the sincerity it used to have, still she hold onto Kyungwon’s arm, matching her long strides.

 **“Yes, let’s make sure Yewon keeps her smile on**.” She hoped she could do the same for Kyungwon and herself, too.

 

 

* * *

 

The concert was been held in an open theater, an old and beautiful structure made out of stone and marble that was big enough to contain even a large ensemble of musicians like Yewon’s team. The bleachers weren’t fully filled just yet, but soon the crowd would be too dense to walk through it. Usually the events hold there attracted families and couples, people who could enjoy a relaxing evening with their loved ones, delighting themselves with the soulful melodies that the orchestra would produce.

Even before she joined the team as a musician, Yewon would drag Minkyung out to watch it, and now seeing her about to perform brought the older girl a feeling of nostalgia and she felt proud about her bright little sister who was pursuing her dreams.  She smiled broadly and waved when she spotted the girl that was rehearsing one last time with the other members of the violin section.

 **“Yewonie!”** Kyungwon also waved energetically, approaching the stage and waiting for the girl to come down. 

The younger Kim finally took notice of their presence and came to their encounter with fast steps and a smile so big that made her gentle brown eyes disappear into crescents. Minkyung smile mirrored the one on her sister’s face, her eye smile matching the girl’s, and quickened her steps to meet the duo that was already talking.

She gave the girl a tight hug, pulling away just to give her a better look. **“You look gorgeous! I’m sorry I couldn’t make it last time, I’ll be extra cheerful today to compensate. Even brought my own human megaphone for it!”** She said, jokingly elbowing Kyungwon that only laughed in answer.

 **“It’s okay. I have a… _Unnie_! What happened?” ** Yewon’s eyes were fully open now, observing Minky’s hand with concern.

There was a moment of tension as Minkyung prepared herself to lie, again. However, it wasn’t needed as the Kang interrupted the quietness, shouting at a cute brunette that was making her way to them.

 **“Another Yewonie!”** She called, getting a playful eye roll in answer before Arin smiled at them, standing beside Yewon and linking their arms. Choi Yewon, better known as Arin between her friends, was Yewon’s soulmate. The girls were such a perfect match that they even shared the same name and the love for music, Yewon playing the violin and Arin the transverse flute. Their story was a good example of how things were supposed to be. They met in high school, and soon enough found out they were meant to be, it didn’t take more than a couple of weeks for them to become incredibly fond of each other.  

Minkyung was glad her sister fate was less troubled than her own.

Arin was part of the family now, making Minkyung feel like she had another baby sister. Kyungwon felt something similar, considering how much she would banter with the young ones and how they would always end up laughing about her antics.

They exchanged warm greetings and hugs.

 **“Yewon is doing a solo today. It is _so_ good, make sure to not fall sleep before this part!” ** Arin informed, making the young Kim blush slightly.

 **“It’s only a short one! But I practice, so I hope it will work out.”** Yewon, the Kim one, said still blushing and scratching the back of her head in a nervous gesture. Yewon was only two years younger than Minky, but she still looked like her little shy and insecure sister in moments like this.

 **“She is being humble. It sounds amazing, really.”** Arin added, hugging the girl by the shoulders with a proud smile.

 **“I know you probably didn’t sleep working on it, why are you downplaying it now?”** Minkyung reached out to ruffle her sister’s hair, making sure to fix it afterwards. **“You will do great. I will get mom and dad a nice place with us and we will be watching and cheering for you.”**

 **“Don’t worry, Yewon. We didn’t bring any tomatoes today, you know I’m allergic to it anyway.”** Kyungwon joked, before giving her a reassuring smile. **“You guys always do amazing. I’ll make sure to pay a lot of attention so I can sketch it later.”**

A staff member interrupted them, urging the younger girls to hurry up because it was time to standby. They bid the couple goodbye and wished them luck, before heading to the best place they could find on the bleachers.

 

 

* * *

 

Kyungwon was having a pleasant evening, a peaceful smile on her face as she cuddled Minkyung and listened to the sweet melody Yewon’s violin was producing.

Minkyung and Yewon’s parents had come a bit late, making it impossible to sit together due to the crowd that was filling the bleachers almost entirely, but they had exchanged greetings briefly before the concert and would probably grab dinner together later. Kyungwon was rather fond of the Kim’s and she missed spending time with them as well, therefore to see all family – the family that she felt like it was hers too – was always good.

Yewon’s solo was over and the ensemble started to play in a much quicker pace, spreading a wave of excitement through the crowd, Kyungwon included. She hugged her girlfriend tighter, kissing the side of her head. **“You saw that? Our Yewon is no joke!”**   For what she received a vigorous nod and a smile as reply, the most sincere one she had seen in quite a while.

Kang was considering deeming that night as a great one until she felt Minkyung tense up beside her, her gaze fixed in something in the bottom of the bleachers. She quickly turned away, hiding her face into the crook of her neck as if she was afraid of being spotter.

The brown haired girl frowned, confused with the sudden change in Kim’s attitude. Her gaze followed the direction Minkyung had been looking at, noticing two girls that were awkwardly trying to go through the crowd and reach a free spot. She couldn’t see their faces properly, but the blond hair one of them had was pretty easy to spot, the petite girl that accompanied her had dark brown hair and light skin. Both girls were, apparently, unaware of their presence.

She could feel all the doubts starting to fill in her mind again. She pressed her lips in a tight line, lowering her gaze to the top of Minky’s head that was all that she could see now. **“Minkyung?”** She asked quietly, her attention now completed focuses on her girlfriend that was clinging onto her jacket as if she was scared she would just stand up and run away.

The girl raised her head, giving her a conflicted look.

**“Minkyung, is something wrong?”**

Minkyung didn’t answer her, instead she felt soft lips crushing against hers as the girl hugged her tight.

The kiss wasn’t gentle and sweet as usual. Her touch was rough grabbing Kang’s coat like her life depended on it. Her lips were harsh, demanding, filled with raw emotion as if she was trying to dive right into Kyungwon.

The younger woman was a bit shocked with the sudden attack, and took her a moment to realize what was happening and pull away. Minky tried to pull her back in, her eyes bright with affliction. But Kyungwon just shook her head negatively, cupping her face between her hands.

 **“Minky, your parents are looking.”** It wasn’t the real reason why she stopped her and both girl knew it, albeit Kyungwon’s gentle and warm tone was enough to give the other woman some comfort.

 **“It’s fine. I’m not going anywhere, so don’t rush.”** She kissed her chastely, proceeding to hug her and pat her back carefully.

Her hazelnut eyes wandered through the crowd, easily spotting the duo again. There was no doubt of what was going on anymore. Unfortunately Kyungwon wasn't as dumb as she wished.

She kissed Minkyung’s forehead, giving her a small smile that wasn’t able to hide her true emotions.

The concert was going to end soon and Kyungwon decided they should take an early leave.

 

 

* * *

 

Early she had panicked, overwhelmed by the fear. Yaebin was in the crowd with someone she didn’t know, and even though the girl probably had no idea she was there, Minkyung felt her blood running cold, opposite of her mark that emitted a warm sensatation now. She didn’t wanted to face the girl and everything she represented, more so she didn’t want Kyungwon to notice it.

Kim did what she had been doing ever since she received the marked, tried to hold on to Kyungwon and their feelings as much as she could. Minkyung always felt that if she was stubborn enough, brave and loyal enough to her feelings, it would protected her against the power of fate and she would be able to stay with Kyungwon.

But of course her girlfriend noticed how shaken she was, how unstable and desperate she looked. Kyungwon didn’t utter a single question, however her pretty brown eyes were filled with concern and sadness as she tried her best to comfort the girl.

In that moment Minkyung knew her time was over and there was no escape of the truth now.

As soon as the concert was over and before the crowd stopped clapping, they dashed out of the place. Minkyung saw her parents’ inquiring looks and she knew Yewon and Arin would have the same expression as soon as they noticed their absence, but she didn’t turn around to face them or, neither did Kyungwon.

Minkyung hold onto Kyungwon’s hand as they walked, trying to push the negative thoughts to the back of her mind. Yet, she couldn’t avoid shaking as the cold wind hit them. They didn’t say a word all the way, as if saying anything would throw them put of the edge and there was no turning back.

The park was beautiful that night. There was barely any people there now, everyone still in the amphitheater. The blue sky free of clouds illuminating their path, the cherry blossoms staining the green grass pink. The flowers falling over them as they walked and giving it a romantic atmosphere. It didn’t match their current feelings.

They walked to a quieter part of the park, reaching the steps that would lead to the river below. The water was dark and even without touching it, Kyungwon knew it would be as cold as she felt inside now.

There was tension in the air as they just stood there looking at anything other than each other. The prolonged silence was filled with their worries and fears, too thick to be cut easily now. So they just stand there for a while, both building up the courage it would take to proceed.

Kyungwon knew that she had to do it as fast as possible, so she tried her best to face her girlfriend. **“You got your mark, didn’t you?”**

 **“W-What?”** Minkyung’s beautiful eyes were wide now, full of shock and guilt. This solely would be enough for the Kang to know her suspicion was right.

Kyungwon felt something break inside of her. She knew that moment would change everything about them and she couldn’t do anything about it.

Kang forced a smile. It would be easy to simply say it was a joke and keep on pretending she didn’t notice it, the idea was far more pleasant than to confront Minky about it.  They couldn’t live a lie forever.

 **“Your hand. I know you are not hurt for real. You didn’t bleed, you don’t show any signs of pain or hesitate to use it…You are very sensitive to pain, wouldn’t be able to hide it so well.”** Kyungwon said, pointing out Minkyung’s left hand with a nod. Her voice higher than normal, strained due to the feelings that were suffocating her. **“Every day you seem more and more nervous and odd. And earlier you were just so obvious…Minkyung, you were never a good liar.”**

She reached out to touch her hand. **“Let me see it.”**

Kim grabbed her hand, refraining the shorter girl of undoing the bandage. She had that look in her eyes again, the one begging her to no ask anything, to forget about it and just hold her tight.

 **“I love _you_. I never loved anyone else.” ** It was more of a plead than a confession, her voice full of despair.

Kyungwon gave her a weak smile in response. It was hard to ignore her requesting since her heart was demanding the same thing, but delay it would only makes things more painful and she didn’t think she would be able to handle anymore pain.

**“I know. That’s why I don’t you to feel like you need to hide anything from me.”**

They exchanged a long, sorrowful look, before Minkyung finally let go of her girlfriend’s hand, allowing her to unwrap the soft fabric, revealing her intact pale skin beneath it. Kang held her hand between hers, slowly flipping it to expose her palm.

A deep, heavy, sigh was heard.

The brunette averted her gaze, biting down on her bottom lip to contain the sudden need of apologizing.

 **“You got the ‘Kang’ part right, at least.”** Kyungwon’s tone was lacking sincerity, just a bad imitation of her usually playful one, unable to conceal her real feelings. Minkyung couldn’t blame her for it, she was fully aware that the girl was trying her best to deal with it and unfortunately it was only the beginning of their torment.

Minky hugged her tight, so tight that she could barely breathe properly, but still she didn’t utter a word. Kim would apologize over and over, as if it was her fault, what they both knew wasn’t the case. Kyungwon should’ve told her that, but right now she couldn’t.

Kang Kyungwon was not one to stay quiet. Even when she was feeling shy and embarrassed, she still tended to talk too much out of nervousness. Although as the moments went by, she couldn’t force herself to say anything else.

Since the beginning of their relationship she was aware that there was a chance that their soulmates were still out there, just waiting for a trick of the destiny to appear. Yet, after so many years, the idea of it actually happening became faint in her mind, like a bad nightmare that she would eventually forget about. Only that now this wasn’t only a bad possibility in the back of her mind, it was very much real and no matter how hard she tried, she wouldn’t be able to ignore it.

The mark on Minky’s hand was more than just a tattoo, it was the symbol of their downfall.

Now Minkyung had someone waiting for her, someone who would always be connected to her, someone for whom she was destined to fall for, and perhaps this person already had fallen for her as well. The one person that could provide her a special kind of happiness and love that Kyungwon would never be able to.

This person who shared the same surname as her, had already met Minkyung and affected their lives. Whoever she was, she had already changed Minkyung.

The shorter girl backed away, breaking the hug to walk a couple of steps until she could reach the lower steps, where she sat.

The brown haired girl looked down at her own hand, the soft skin clean of any marks just like it had always been. Maybe she also had a soulmate somewhere in the world, and before she could do anything a mark would appear and she won’t ever be able to get rid of it. However, Kyungwon didn’t feel like it would ever happen. She never felt like she was connected to someone, and now she didn’t want to be either.

Mastering her courage, she glanced at her girlfriend. Her heart was aching, slowly breaking into pieces and she knew it would only get worse once she asked, still, she couldn’t bear to not know.  **“How does it feel?”** What she really meant was ‘How you feel about her?’, but she wasn’t brave enough to be so straight forward.

Minkyung was expecting that kind of question, actually she expected many more and a stronger reaction as well. However, she still didn’t know how to answer it properly – as if there was even a proper way of answering it.

She hesitated, her throat dry, making it hard to form the words. “ **It feels…Feels great and terrible at the same time. It’s like this blissfulness could fill you up, until you start to choke on it and you can’t breathe anymore.”** She didn’t mention that she felt like it due to the weight of the guilty that was suffocating  her, although Kyungwon probably knew it.

In an impulse she reached out to grab Kyungwon’s hands in a tight grip. **“I still feel the same about us. Nothing changed, I swear!”**

Somehow it didn’t sound as sincere as she wished, it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself instead of the other woman. She still loved Kyungwon, there was no doubt. But in the spam of a single week she had already doubted herself so much, she was becoming paranoid about everything she did or said, as if she had to double check her feelings constantly. One morning she got mad at Kyungwon for making a mess at the studio and was about to snap at her, just to stop and run out of the room to cry in the bathroom. Suddenly she couldn’t tell if she was legit annoyed at her girlfriend for the silly studio incident or if it was the mark that was affecting her and making her subconsciously reject the girl, to make her antagonized her girlfriend instead of love her – the simple thought of it was horrible.

The brown haired girl just nodded with a shaky smile that was nowhere near as bright as her usual grin. She was trying so hard to shake off the sensation of loss, and believe what Minky was saying, but it wasn’t easy. Perhaps impossible to do so. Even without facing the girl properly, she knew by the sound of her voice that it wasn’t completely true.

No matter how much they loved each other or how happy they were together, they couldn’t ignore that small mark on Minkyung’s palm. Something so small, but still so powerful. Powerful enough to ruin their chances of a future together. As far as she knew, there was no way of ignoring your soulmate connection, you could try, but eventually you would give in to it and accept your fate. After all, who could turn their back on the one chance of being perfectly happy? There wasn’t even one case where it happened.

Kyungwon always thought they were as good as any other couple, that there wasn’t anything they lacked compared to anyone, soulmates or not. However, she couldn’t really know if it was true any longer. Could she really be as good to Minkyung as her soulmate? Or she was just a distraction in the way of her real happiness?

Minkyung hugged her once more and this time she hugged her back even tighter. She could feel the tears burning in her eyes, but she didn’t allow herself to cry. Kyungwon could recall clearly Minky’s painful sobs that she heard through the phone in that dreadful night, now she knew the real reason for her pain and to know that only made things worse. She had to be strong for them now, or else there wouldn’t be any hope for them.

With a deep breath, she rested her head against the taller girl’s shoulder, feeling Kim’s scent filling her lungs as the girl caressed her hair trying to give her some comfort. The contact was nice and good for both girls. But it wasn’t enough to keep the pain away for good.

Kyungwon looked over Minkyung’s shoulder, her gaze touching the dark gray of the river below them, noticing the small glimpses of light pink on the surface. Cherry blossoms flowers. It was spring, now she recalled Minkyung telling her about it.

She was starting to hate this season.

**“Let’s go home.”**

 


	7. Chances

 

The brown haired woman looked down on her own mediocre sketch, her left hand rubbing her forehead where a headache resided for the last three days. It was probably karma acting upon her for being such a bad girlfriend.

Talk about what happened and be there for each other would have been the right thing, yet she had felt so overwhelmed and scared that she had shut down every single try Minkyung made. Hiding away in her office under the excuse she had to finish a new chapter of her webtoon. Sungyeon called early morning on Monday asking if she had things prepared since the deadline was close, and only then, the tall girl realized that she had been too distracted with her issues with Minkyung to pay attention to her work obligations. She still had a couple of days to go, although there was so much to do and all the thoughts running through her head were making it hard for her to get anything done.

She barely made any progress, not only in her work, but also in dealing with her emotions. She would spend the whole day locked on her studio, going late to bed and waking up only after Kim had left for work. It wasn’t like she didn’t want to see or be with the girl, it was the complete opposite.

Kyungwon had learnt a lot about herself in a short span of time and she wasn’t happy with what she discovered.

She knew that the situation wasn’t Minkyung’s or anyone else’s fault. However, it didn’t prevent her of feeling awful and angry about everything. By hiding away she was, somehow, protecting Minky as well. The last thing she wanted was to snap at her because she was unable to control her emotions. Kyungwon supposed she would be a little more mature and selfless by now, still, ever since Minkyung told her about that damned soul mark she couldn’t help it but curse destiny for their bad luck and think of ways to keep Kim as far as possible of her soulmate.

A part of her was telling her to cling onto Minky forever because she couldn’t picture a life without her. This part, proved to be much bigger than she ever thought possible. Kang lost track of the number of times she grabbed the little velvet box in the drawer, her instincts telling her to act as fast as she could and make sure Minky was hers for good, so like this they could leave to a place where the other Kang wouldn’t ever be able to find them – this kind of thought made her feel like horrible.

The ring inside that box was supposed to be a symbol of love and affection and she has planned so much about the right moment to give it, the right words to say to make the moment perfect like her girlfriend deserved. To use the ring as a way to keep Minkyung tied up to her would not only be selfish, it would be utterly cowardly. No matter how impulsive she was or how much this whole situation was pushing her to the edge, Kyungwon would never be capable of going so far. Proposing now would only make them both miserable and ruin the small chances they had of a happy future together.

Even if Minkyung indeed agreed on getting married for the _right_ reasons, it wouldn’t change the fact that somewhere in the she still had a soulmate that she never had the chance of knowing and it would weight down on their relationship, a constant menace. Live like this couldn’t possibly be considered a happy ending.

She ended up burying the box under a bunch of her old sketches, back inside the drawer.

The other side of her, the more logical and selfless one, was more subtle. It left a permanent message on the corner of her mind, a simple reminder: Minkyung’s happiness should come first. Always.

Soulmates were called like this for a reason, two people who belong together as one. Couples united by the marks were always happy, no matter what they would stick together and lead a good life. She knew it, her own parents and siblings had it. The same could be said about the Kims and so many others. It was a bond like no other, something that she would ever be able to replicate.

How could she get in the way of Minkyung’s happiness? And what about the other girl, didn’t she also deserved a chance?

Perhaps the old say was right and to love was to let go, and if she really loved Minky she would let her live her fated destiny.

Sighing, Kyungwon shook her head. She was sick and tired of her inner battle. She was only human, not a selfish jerk with no consideration for others feelings, nor she was a noble knight in shiny armor. And as a human, she was insecure and unsure, trying her best to avoid the unavoidable.

After hours and hours of unfruitful work and the same thoughts running through her mind, she finally reached a conclusion.

She was acting like a fool. The most important decision was not up to her, although she had her own choices to make, ultimately Minkyung would have the final say on it. For now, all she could do was to provide her all the support the woman needed and make it clear that she had the freedom to act. Whether it was the last thing she would ever do for them as a couple, or only another obstacle in the way, she would make it wholehearted.

 

 

* * *

 

There was a silence dominating their house.

The silence in their house had always been a comfortable kind. There was silence when Minkyung had to finish some important work related documents or when she was writing, just like the silence would reign when Kyungwon had to meet a deadline soon and only the sound of her pen against the tablet could be heard. However, those moments were very different from now. Back then, she would still hear Kyungwon’s footsteps as the woman sneaked in to grab food that she would always end up bringing the Kim some as well, claiming they needed a break once in a while; Or when Minky would guess they had done enough and would insist on calling it a day and drag Kyungwon to the kitchen so they could make dinner together while chatting about the progress they had made so far. They both were concentrated in their own assignments, despite it, they always found time, even if only a couple of minutes, to dedicate to check on the other and these little pauses would be enough to reenergize them.

However, the silence in their usually cozy place was different that day. A quietness so heavy, that it felt like a thick layer of mist covered it all, making the air dense and hard to breath. She couldn’t recall a moment like this before, a moment where even her quick breathes seem to hitch high echoing against the walls so loudly that it almost made her feel guilty for having to fill her lungs.

Kyungwon was back in her office, the door closed just like she seemed to be closing herself up the world. The night Minky had revealed her soul mark, they went back home and didn’t talk at all. Kyungwon just hugged her tight until they eventually fell asleep. It wasn’t a simple thing to accept or deal with, therefore she didn’t push for a conversation that would only harm them both even further. Nevertheless, now she realized that maybe she should have. They hadn’t talk much lately, Kyungwon just brushing it off whenever Minkyung demonstrated any kind of worry, and focusing most of her time on her work.

It was like they had switched roles. Kyungwon became quiet and reserved, while Minkyung felt completely lost regarding what to do next.

She was all too aware of the fact that the longer they spent in that situation, the worst their relationship would get and it was the thing she feared the most all along. And as if it wasn’t enough, the feeling of guilty still haunted whenever she lays her eyes on her hand where the mark was still there as a reminder that she also owned someone else explanations too.

Closing the lid of her laptop after finishing yet another report that her boss would probably never read, she put the object aside and gathered courage to try reach her girlfriend. Unconsciously she pulled the sleeves of her sweater, covering her palm before knocking lightly on the door of the artist workplace. **“Kyungwon, may I come in?”**

She was expecting a gentle rejection, an excuse to not allow her to come in, for her surprise Kyungwon’s tired voice rose up to answer quickly. **“Minkyungie, just a moment.”** The tone was almost like the one she would usually use, warm and loving, what didn’t fail on making a smile appear on the taller girl’s face.

Minkyung knew she shouldn’t expect anything, albeit she couldn’t help but feel a bit relieved when Kang opened the door, stepping out of the studio to give her a small smile. Dark circles adorned  the skin bellow her eyes, betraying the fact that the girl had very little sleep in the past two nights. Minky noticed how her hands were a bit swollen, crayon coloring her fingers a dark shade of grey, indicating she hadn’t been working on the webtoon, probably sketching something else instead.

Furrowing her eyebrows, Kim reached out to touch the said hands. Kyungwon didn’t allow Minkyung to properly touch her, bringing her hand closer to her body.

 **“I’ll wash up first.** **I was just trying to make the sketch I promised the two Yewons. Apparently I overestimated my skills.”** The brown haired girl said with an airy chuckle that didn’t sound sincere. They both knew she was a good artist, talent wasn’t the thing disturbing her work. **“I’m feeling tired, so I would like to go bed early today.”** She moved, starting to make her way back to their bedroom.

The taller woman nodded, following. The silence had been broken, why Minkyung could still feel the coldness wrapping itself around them? The tension was still there. Kyungwon was just being Kyungwon and trying to protect her by putting up a facade and pretending it was all fine, although it wasn’t helping neither of them.

Sighing, Minky allowed her gaze to fall on the slightly shorter girl as they walked. She knew every detail about Kyungwon, even the way her head would shift slightly to the left as she took a hand to rub the back of her neck to relieve the tension there. Before Sungyeon accepted working with her and they had an official agreement about the webtoon, Kyungwon used to do that gesture quite often, feeling burdened by all the work she was doing as an assistant at an animation company while juggling her time to create her own series. At the time, Kim was there to help and cheer the girl up. To know that now she the cause of Kang’s distress was almost unbearable.

She sat on the bed, waiting for Kyungwon to finish washing up.

Albeit their unstable situation, their room still remained the same giving her a certain sense of normality. Although Kyungwon was the artist between the two of them, Minkyung had taken upon to herself the task of decorating the house with some eventual help of her girlfriend. That room, in specific, was decorated in tones of blue and white, colors that she always found comforting and calming, it was supposed to make the experience of waking up every day there pleasant. It was organized – Kyungwon used to be a mess, with time and the constant nagging of the taller girl, she learned to keep her mess restricted to her office. Minkyung regretted being so tough on her, if she hadn’t insisted so much on keeping everything perfect, she would still be able to detected the traces of Kang, instead of having to rely on the one picture of the two of them on the nightstand.

The picture was old and starting to get yellowish, what was no surprise since they had gotten it from a photo booth on Minkyung’s sixteen birthday. They weren’t a couple yet, just really close friends. In the pictures, they were smiling and making dumb faces, showing their mark-less palms to the lens.

Perhaps that day was the beginning of their relationship, even if she didn’t realize it yet.

 

 **_“Make a wish!”_ ** _Kyungwon said, sitting beside the older girl on the bench._

 **_“Didn’t you say you would make me a cake?”_ ** _Minkyung said raising an eyebrow to her best friend as the girl placed an overly frosted cupcake on the table. It was lunch time and they were supposed to be eating proper food, but Kyungwon somehow had managed to sneak in the sweet. **“Did you burn the rest of it?”** _

**_“Shut up!”_ ** _Kang protested, shoving her by the arm. **“I tried, okay? This is the best thing I ever made after ramen.”** And it might as well be the only thing, the girl was never much of a cook. It somehow made the gesture even more meaningful. _

_Minkyung giggled, taking the cupcake into her hand to observe it closer. It wasn’t picture perfect like the ones in pastry shops, yet she had to admit that it looked good, especially for a first try. The sky blue candle on top of it was already lit and waiting impatiently for her._

**_“It’s not that bad. Actually, it’s kind cute.”_ ** _With a smile plastered on her face, she looked over to meet Kyungwon’s expecting gaze. **“Won’t you sing happy birthday for me first, though?”** _

_Kang snorted. **“Go fast. You know your parents have a party ready for later.”** _

**_“Shiu! I’m making a wish now.”_ ** _Minkyung said, bumping her shoulder into the girl’s playfully before focusing once more on the cupcake._

_Stealing a glance at her own palm, making sure it was clear of any marks, she joined her hands and closed her eyes. She already knew what she wanted._

_Blowing the candle in a single breath, she heard as Kyungwon clapped in approval._

_Minky gave the girl a smile before taking the candle out of the small cake to cut it in two. She gave a piece to Kyungwon and took a bite on hers, letting a content sigh when she felt the taste of strawberry. She wondered how long it took Kyungwon to make it, shouldn’t have been easy._

**_“So, nothing new yet?”_ ** _Her friend asked, gesturing her left hand._

_Minkyung raised her hand, checking again if anything had changed before showing it to the brown haired girl. **“I think it will take a bit more time.”** She said with a smile that was both hopeful and excited. She knew it wasn’t a good idea to try to guess who her soulmate was, after all fate was unpredictable, however she had a really good feeling about it. _

**_“Hm.”_ ** _Kyungwon looked at her hand for a brief moment, before averting her gaze. A smile that she couldn’t hide was on her face as she munched on the cupcake. “ **I still have a couple of months to go. Maybe I will find out before you do?”** She teased, standing up and offering a hand for the birthday girl to do the same. _

_Minkyung’s smile grew wider. **“I don’t think it will be the case.”** _

 

And it wasn’t. However, not in the way she thought. Had she know would things be different, would they still have tried? Would she even risk it? She lowered her gaze to her hands with a deep sigh.

The door cracked open, Kyungwon stepping out with the same tired smile she sported earlier. She had changed into more comfortable after showering, it looked like she was ready to sleep. Minkyung shook her head, noticing only now how distracted she had been with all the memories that she hadn’t even heard the sound of the shower.

The older girl tried to return the smile, feeling anxious to face the dark and intense look in her girlfriend’s eyes. Kyungwon looked determined.

Kang sat down, keeping a comfortable distance between them – not too far to be considered a rejection, but definitely not as close as it used to be. Her hands, now free of crayon, were gripping tightly the hem of her pajama shirt.

 **“You know, I’m pretty childish most of the time. So of course the first thing I thought about when you told me about…It,”** She eyed Minkyung’s hand for a quick moment, before raiding her eyes back to the girl’s face. **“Was that I should just ask you to ignore it, to pretend it never happened and we could be happy together again.  Although, I knew it wouldn’t work out. We still could run into your soulmate and it would be awful every time, so I thought maybe I should ask you to move overseas with me where we could be safe…If it is the right word. I just wanted to be with you like it has always been.”** She said with fond smile, gaining a shaky one in return. Minkyung tried to say something, but the other girl just shook her head in a negative.

 **“It was naïve and dumb. Here, or anywhere else, we would never be able to ignore it totally and pretend it didn’t happen. I don’t want us to live with the fear that you will stumble onto this woman someday and everything will crumble.”** Her smile turned into a tight line. Kyungwon stopped to take a deep breath and the Kim felt her heart breaking a little at the sight. Her girlfriend was a strong person, with a loyal and brave spirit, yet even she had her limits.

She wanted to hug her and apologize again, but all she could do was to grab her hands into hers. **“Kyungwon, I…”**

 **“You should go and see her.”** Kyungwon said finally, her tone was almost emotionless, not matching her eyes that displayed a set of conflicting emotions.

Minkyung shook her head, strongly denying **. “And do what? No! I don’t want to-“**

 **“To what, Minky? Why are you so afraid of going there?”** Her voice was calm, a bit too calm to fit Kyungwon’s usual loud personality. She didn’t try to free herself of Kim’s grip, instead she caressed her hands, slowly turning her left one to take a good look at the soulmate mark in the palm. As expected, it was there, perfect red lines that almost glow against Minkyung’s pale skin. Kyungwon’s thumb touched right above it and Minky could feel the warmth it was emitting. She didn’t touch the tattoo, though.

Kim deviated her gaze, trying her best to not close her hand and deny her girlfriend the access to the little thing that was breaking their relationship. What was she really afraid? She didn’t want to think about it. They both knew the answer. She feared that being close to Yaebin would change the way she felt about Kyungwon. That it would make her fall for the other girl. That it would make her break all their promises and ruin their future together. She didn’t want someone new, she didn’t want Kyungwon out of her life.

It was even making her question whether her actions were guided by her love for Kyungwon or the simple fear of change – she liked to think it wasn’t the latter.

 **“I don’t want to go.”** Minkyung repeated, lowering her head so she didn’t have to face the brunette.

 **“I don’t know who she is, nor how she feels about it or even how you will feel when you see her…I don’t want it haunting us forever.”** Kyungwon left out a deep sigh. She reached out to touch Minkyung’s face, forcing the girl to look at her. **“I thought ‘what about if it was the opposite? What if it was me, not Minkyung?’ and I realized that in this case you would do the same for me. You would tell me to be brave and face things, just like you always did.”**

 **“What?”** She couldn’t even imagine how she would feel if she was in Kyungwon’s shoes, however she was sure that she would be an even bigger crying mess than she already was being. Minkyung felt tears burning in the back of her eyes, hating herself for have become such a crybaby in the last couple of weeks. She manage to contain the sobs, letting out a weak, humorless chuckle. **“I wouldn’t. I would really run away with you. You were always the noble idiot here, not the other way around.”** She tried to nag, the mix of emotions showing itself in her voice, ruining her act.

Would have she really? How do you know when you should put other happiness before yours and how do you know it will indeed guarantee them a happy ending? It wasn’t a simple choice. None of them could predict the future and even if she could, would it still affect her decisions?

 **“I’m not as brave as you are.”** Kim whispered, knowing that the other woman would be able to understand even if she hadn’t vocalized it. Her favorite eyes, Kyungwon’s warm and kind dark brown ones, were still on her and she could feel comforted by the simple fact that there was love in there.

 **“If I was so brave it wouldn’t have taken me three days and many ruined sketches to face you.”** Kang admitted, brushing her thumb on Minky’s cheek. **“You tried so hard for us. You are still trying. If this is not being brave I don’t know what it is.”** The small smile that appeared on her face was genuine this time.

Nodding, Minkyung covered Kyungwon’s hand with her own, resting her cheek against it. Kang was right, they couldn’t run away of it forever. **“I’ll try to go.”**

Kang’s smile grew a bit wider, it was almost proud. **“Just think about it. If in a week, you still want to run away, we will. I don’t mind hiding in that hotel for dog owners I told you about, I bet no one could find us there.”** Typical Kyungwon, trying to joke around to light up the mood – and it worked as Minkyung smiled back.

The taller woman leaned in for a hug that was promptly accepted, the brown haired girl’s arms involving her torso in a tight embrace.

Even if she had known about the future, she was sure she wouldn’t have changed things. Kyungwon would never be a mistake in her life, whether or not she was a permanent part of it.

 

 

* * *

 

Wednesday afternoon was going smoothly at the bookstore. Only a couple of school kids reading comic books and some of her usual customers checking the new releases. Kyla was chatting with a classmate in a corner, while Yooa tended to a client at the register.

Having finished her paperwork, Kang just walked around the place for, in case anyone needed her. She helped an old lady who forgot her glasses to pick a corny romance, and after that she sat down on one of the comfortable armchairs, allowing herself to relax a bit.

Her brown eyes wandered through the place, a small, proud smile on her face as she noticed how similar it was to what it used to be when her dad ran the place. Of course she had to make some changes here and there, however its classic charm was still there and Yaebin liked to think her dad would love the place if he could see it, just like she loved it now. After so many years working, the bookstore became less of an obligation, and more like a place she felt safe and comfortable in.

Grabbing one of the books some careless customer left on the table, she inspected the volume and soon was engulfed by the nice reading.

Yaebin’s week had been surprisingly uneventful. No phone calls from her mom with problems, no troublesome customers trying to shoplift – it still amazes her that people were capable of doing it even with books –, no unpleasant surprises with the store’s balance…and no mysterious soulmate girl in sight.

The fact that she hadn’t seen Minkyung ever since that fateful night was both annoying and relieving. For the first few days she would expect to see the taller woman every day, just to be disappointed because the girl never showed up. Kim hadn’t even emailed her about work as she was supposed to. Therefore she could only presume the girl was avoiding her.

Eunwoo insisted on digging into her soulmate’s life to find out what she was up to, Yaebin declined every offer. What was the point of it? Even if they succeed, what use would this information have? It wasn’t like Yaebin was planning on walking to Minkyung’s house, knock at her door and possibly become a home wrecker.

Maybe it was better to just pretend that night never happened, that the mark on her palm wasn’t there, and keep living like she always had...At least she would like to try doing so.

Clearly fate had other plans for her.

Later that afternoon, just before the sun set, the customers had one by one left, leaving only her sleepy employers talking between themselves. Yaebin, put the book aside, standing up to go get herself a cup of hot coffee, although she didn’t get to do so.

The small Kang’s peripheral vision noticed the moment a tall, elegant silhouette, stepped into the place, slowly making its way to her. Her vision was pretty great, and even if it wasn’t, the warm feeling the soul mark was giving, was enough for her to know who it was.

The younger woman took a deep breath, turning to face the taller brunette.

**“Kim Minkyung.”**

**“Hi…”** Kim gave her a small, unsure smile. By the way the woman switched the weight from one leg to the other, one hand running through her hair as her gaze looked anywhere except Yaebin, to say she was uncomfortable was an understatement. “ **May we talk, please?”**

Yaebin crossed her arms over her chest, adopting a protective posture. The situation was already bad, why Minkyung had to tower over her like that? Fate was really making a joke out of her with this whole soulmate thing, even their heights were awkwardly funny.

The smartest choice would be to tell the woman off, burying this part of her life.

**“Okay. Follow me.”**

Apparently Yaebin wasn’t the best at making love choices.

 

 

* * *

 

Right now Kyungwon had a bunch of unfinished sketches that didn’t look terrible, although they weren’t anywhere near her usual style. Her current story, a sci-fi comedy with some underlying tones, didn’t match the overly serious traces and dark style that her hands insisted on drawing. Her conflicted emotions were quite insistent on taking part in the works, and Kang was unable to prevent it.

There was no way she would be able to finish it in time, at least not in a way that wouldn’t ruin the years of work she had been putting on that webtoon. Therefore, she tried to at least recall everything she had planned for that chapter, writing any details that she hadn’t previously take note.

Kyungwon needed help and she knew exactly where to find it.

She left home heading to the subway station, taking with her the notebook with the basic information she needed to explain how the story should go on.

The college campus, the same one that her and Minkyung frequented years ago, was her destination. Kang took her usual spot under the shade of a large tree, resting her back against its trunk. Even there she could see cherry blossoms here and there, and the sight gave her a bittersweet feeling. The flowers were beautiful, though now they also reminded her of that night.

 **“What’s up with the frown, _unnie_?” ** Siyeon said, sitting in front of her and giving her an inquisitive look.

 Kyungwon blinked, averting her eyes from the cherry blossoms to her friend. Siyeon was also an artist, although the younger girl was still finishing college. They met some years ago when Kyungwon was already a senior and the raven just a freshman, and clicked right away. Park was a nice company, candid and fun, and also a very talented kid.

 **“Park Ddiddi, don’t you ever go to class?”** Kyungwon asked noticing that the girl’s backpack was nowhere to be seen, as usual. Sometimes she wondered how that kid even managed to stay in college with a carefree attitude like that.

 **“I already passed my exams. What’s the point of having perfect attendance when it won’t give me any extra credits?”** Siyeon shrugged. **“Besides, weren’t you the one that called me here?”** Direct as usual, her gaze was still examining the senior with curiosity.

Kyungwon nodded, remembering what she was supposed to do there. **“Are you free this week?”**

**“I’m always free, boss. Remember you are supposed to be the one giving me a job after graduation?”**

The older woman rolled her eyes. **“I already told you to look for something better. You should try for a big company, it would help you learn a lot.”**

 **“And become a slave that only serves coffee and is screamed at?”** Siyeon snorted, shaking her hands in a strong negative. **“No thank you, I don’t wish to be the sub-assistant of the assistant of some snob art director.”**

Well, Kyungwon couldn’t blame her. Having herself spent some time working for people like this and getting near to no recognition for her work, she knew how frustrating it could be. However, she wasn’t sure following her around was the best thing for someone as talented as Park. **“You know you are welcome to help me and I’ll support you in doing your own thing, too. But don’t complain about the payment.”**

Siyeon only smiled in return. **“So, you came just to check on me? _Unnie_ , aren’t you the sweetest?”** Her mocking tone would usually earn her a glare, yet Kang only handed her the notebook.

 **“I need your help. A lot of help.”** The taller said, adopting her business tone. The webtoon was very important for her. **“You know how the next chapter goes and you can find everything else you need to know here.”** Siyeon had been helping her for over a year now, mostly just helping her to think about new twists and help to finish the drawings. **“I want you to draw it.”**

The raven haired girl furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, accepting the notebook with certain hesitation. She didn’t open it, instead her gaze met Kyungwon’s once more. **“Are you serious? This is huge! You don’t even let me do a page on my own, and now you want me to do a whole chapter?”**

Kang grimaced. She knew it was a bit too much to ask of a friend, especially in such short time, nevertheless she couldn’t rely on her own talent this time and asking an extension in her deadline was not a possibility unless she wanted to ruin the confidence the publishing company was putting on her. The first printed volume would be out in a couple of weeks, a huge step for any author, she had to present the best image she could, or else she could be risking the future of the series.

 **“I’d be around helping out and such. I just…I’m having a hard time drawing lately and I don’t want to screw things up.”** She confessed, crossing her arms in front of herself, as if like this she could shield herself from Siyeon’s sharp stare.

Park was usually an easy type to deal with, and sometimes this astute, weirdly alluring glint would appear in her eyes making her look wise beyond her years. The glint was there again, not matching the unsure expression in her face. **“You would trust me with something so important?”**

 **“It’s weird, but yes, I would. I will.”** She returned the gaze, her dark brown eyes not leaving the other girl’s face. **“Will be good for you too. You can put your name out there and get bragging rights on saving me from getting mobbed by the fans.”**

Kyungwon expected a laugh, not that persistent look that was making Park look less like a reckless college student and more like a concerned parent.

The girl shook her head, her long black hair waving over her shoulders. **“No. I will help you, but you can do it on your own, Kyungwon.”** The lack of honorifics surprised the older girl, however it was Siyeon’s resolute tone that convinced her of how serious the college student really was. **“And, of course, I hope you are ready to pay me generously.”** The last phrase was delivered in a much lighter tone, Siyeon’s usual smirk was back in her face as well.

 **“Kyungwon _unnie_.” ** Kang corrected with a small smile. “ **Thank you, Siyeon. I’ll make sure to give you the double the amount of food coupons than the usual. Fair enough?”** She teased – albeit the younger girl was never one to refuse any free food ever.

 Of course Park argued and the friendly banter was good to distract Kang from her problems for a little while. Nevertheless, they still had much work to do and soon both girls were focused on planning their schedule for the next days and how they would work to make sure they could deliver the chapter within the deadline – ideally, before Sungyeon decided to come over to watch over them and nag nonstop about how lazy her friends were.

By the end of the morning they had everything set up. Normally, Siyeon would follow her back home and they would work together at her house, still she didn’t feel comfortable bringing the girl to her place now. Siyeon was too clever, she would noticed that something was off the moment she sees Minkyung. Instead, Kang decided that they would work better at Siyeon’s apartment inside the campus. If it was needed, later she could bring some of equipment over. For now it would have to be enough.

The younger girl’s place was quiet, after all Siyeon lived alone – it was also impressively messy, what was no surprise. Kyungwon took a look around, noticing that the apartment was much like the one she used once. Siyeon clearly wasn’t the type that enjoys decorating, keeping the place just like it originally was.

 **“Siyeon, you didn’t get your mark yet, did you?”** She asked in an impulse. Park was one of the only people that she knew that hadn’t been given a mark yet, or at least she thought so, the girl wasn’t much of a talker when it comes down to this subject.

 **“Why the sudden interest?”** The raven asked raising her eyebrows, before elbowing Kyungwon in a playful way. **“ _Unnie_ , I’m flattered, but Minkyung doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment.”**

 **“As if.”** Kyungwon left out a light chuckle. **“I never see you with anyone, I was just wondering.”**

Park made a funny face, scrunching her nose as if she had smelled something unpleasant. **“I don’t care about this whole soulmate thing.”**

Kyungwon couldn’t hide a smile at the girl’s exaggerated expressions. **“How come? We don’t really get a say on it, someday just happens…”** Her smile slowly faded away as she spoke. **”For most people.”**

 **“Well, you can’t control the marks, but you can still choose to follow it or not, right?”** Park argued, too busy starting to set up her stuff for work to care to look at Kang, for what the latter was glad since like this she didn’t need to try and hide her emotions.

 **“Hm, yeah, I suppose. It’s not something people really want to fight, though.”** For most, to ignore the soul mark was the same as ignore the universe conspiring in your favor, most people wouldn’t even consider such thing.

 **“Everyone wants to be happy and this is fine. However, have you ever thought about what these things really are? What does a soul mark really means?”** The raven’s voice was light, almost like she was enjoying discussing the topic – Kyungwon couldn’t say the same, therefore she just shrugged, answering in a lifeless tone.

**“Means you are fated to be together. Simple as this.”**

The raven clicked her tongue in disapproval **. “Isn’t it too simple? Humans are entitled of making their own decisions. What if the marks are only a possibility? Maybe destiny is telling you that if you work hard you can be happy with that person, or with anyone else as long as you do your best.”**

 **“I…Never thought about it like this.”** Having a soulmate mark was one of the only things that people could rely. It didn’t sounds like a choice, only a concrete fact.

 **“Life is not static. People change things all the time, sometimes even without realizing it.”** That unusual glint was shining in Siyeon’s again, matching the subtle smile on her lips. **“I think it’s the same for fate.”**

The idea of being able to interfere and build their own destiny was something so out dated that it reminded her of old movies and books, things from before the soulmate marks were a thing and nothing was certain. She found some comfort on it.

Kyungwon mirrored the smile of the younger girl. **“This means you are not expecting to find your soulmate?”**

**“It means that if someday I feel like I need one, I’ll go and get it myself!”**

 

 

* * *

 

Minkyung stole a glance of the shorter girl, soon turning her gaze back to the blue cup from where tiny clouds of steam were coming out. From all things she thought on the way there, drinking coffee with Yaebin while watching the passerby come and go on the streets, was not one of them – not that she could complain about it.

Yaebin was too nice, nicer than she deserved to be treated. The younger woman invited her for coffee with a polite smile, giving her the time she needed to open up. Just like last time, Minky felt weirdly comfortable around her. Yaebin still smells like plumeria what was rather pleasant, her hair was down today, falling graciously over her shoulders in a dark curtain that was almost black. She looked a little bit paler than next time, less natural and friendly, but undeniably charming in her own way. Minkyung also knew she was smart and talented, gentle and thoughtful, she could tell just by their little interactions so far.

Kim barely knew the woman and could already name so many qualities. Kang Yaebin was a pretty great person, the type of person people wish to have as a soulmate.

Still, she wasn’t Kyungwon.

The soulmate thing was probably wrong, she refused to believe otherwise, nevertheless she got to admit that the small Kang wasn’t someone bad to have as pair. It was more like the other way around.

She sighed, taking a sip of her coffee.

**“I’m sorry for have just run away that day. I know it was…”**

**“Weird? Offensive? A bit mean? Kind of funny?”** Yaebin complemented with a soft chuckle. Her tone was light, more like a friendly banter than an actual complain.

 **“I was going for ‘inappropriate’. I guess it wasn’t the right word.”** Minkyung gave her a yellow smile. **“I freaked out. It wasn’t something I was expecting or…Or even wishing for.”** She sighed. **“I want to be honest with you.”**

Kim fingers instinctively reached out to touch the ring on her left hand, feeling the small nuances of the intricate pattern, in the hopes it would help to ease her nerves. She managed to face Yaebin this time, her eyes fixed on the girl’s.

**“I already have someone in my life. Someone who is really important to me.”**

**“Yeah, I figured.”** Yaebin nodded, her eyes still on Minky’s. There was no anger, sadness or judgment on them, just something that was closer to disappointment. **“The way you just left and then you never came back…It wasn’t so hard to understand what is going on.”**

It was Minkyung’s turn to nod slightly, feeling the burden of guilt on her shoulders again. She was so focused on her own pain, that she didn’t think much about how Yaebin must’ve felt.

 **“I’m sorry. I should’ve told you right away.”** Just like she shouldn’t have hidden it of her girlfriend for so long, although the mark seem to have come accompanied by a lot of bad decisions as well. **“I don’t want you to misunderstand. I didn’t think you would ever appear. For the first years after my sixteen birthday I waited and waited, and I thought maybe you just weren’t out there.”**

Yaebin blinked a bit surprised with the sudden turn of subjects. She was expecting to her about Minkyung’s girlfriend (or boyfriend), not an apology for her ‘betrayal’. How could she even blame the older girl for that? She used to think the same.

 **“I don’t. Even if you hadn’t wait, what difference would it make now? We are like, ten years late on this? I was as much shocked as you when this appeared.”** Kang spoke, showing her palm were the bright red mark was. Back in the days, she would have been so happy to receive a soul mark. Now, it was more of burden than anything else. **“I won’t lie, it was pretty disappointing to not meet you when my birthday came, and well all the others for some years.”** She left out a small giggle, finding in humor her escape route. **“I used to think all my problems would disappear if my soulmate was by my side, that you would be some sort of magical being or whatever.”**

It was incredible naïve, but which sixteen year old girl isn’t? Her family situation couldn’t be worse at the time and all she wanted was a source of comfort, she found it in the thoughts about her soulmate. With time, and the lack of the said soulmate in her life, she had become more cynical and start to be thankful to the fact that she didn’t have anyone else to worry about when. Then Kim Minkyung happened, and although it wasn’t as magical as she supposed it would be, she still found herself caring for the other woman.

 **“I think I would have done the same if I had the opportunity.”** Yaebin shrugged, holding the white cup behind her hands a little tighter. Perhaps she should feel glad Minkyung had better luck then herself. She wasn’t that noble. **“I wish I had.”**

Minkyung sighed and it was the only sound for a moment. None of them knew what to say, or even if they were supposed to say anything.

**“Where were you all along?”**

**“Why I never saw you before?”**

They asked at the same time, sharing a soft laugh at their bad timing.

Minkyung took the lead, answering the small Kang question. **“I’m always busy with work. I passed by here a couple of times, but never got the chance of coming inside before. It’s weird, since we live so close by.”**

 **“So you live here as well? Fate is really a funny thing.”** Yaebin said in a low voice. The irony was killing her, it was hilarious and insulting at the same time. **“I live here since I graduated from college. But I spent some time in the countryside when I was back in high school.”**

 **“During high school?”** Minkyung furrowed her eyebrows, her quick brain noticing something. She had met Kyungwon a year before high school, the brown haired girl had transferred from Gwangju to Seoul, meanwhile with Yaebin it seemed like the opposite. **“You mean you used to live here? So we probably would have frequented the same school?”**

Yaebin’s eyes grew a bit wider as the realization also hit her. **“Probably?”** She said, trying to recall the name of the school she was supposed to enroll before moving away. The name came easily as she remembered seeing it in the uniform of the kids that visited the store earlier, so she told it to Minkyung. **“You went there?”**

Kim looked perturbed by the idea, her answering coming in the form of a light nod. She was supposed to meet Yaebin at the school, instead she spent all her years there with Kyungwon by her side. She wondered how it would have been if the smaller Kang appeared during her second year there. Would she like her even before the mark signalized they were a perfect match? Would she love her? Would it have changed her relationship with Kyungwon? All questions running through her mind were enough to give her a headache.

Yaebin didn’t say anything for a while, similar questions filling her head. Her dad passing away had affect her family and her own life greatly, but she never thought it could also be the reason why she didn’t met her soulmate before. As if she needed any more reasons to hate the date.

 **“You are really pretty.”** The younger brunette broke the silence after a couple of minutes where they both just focused on finishing their coffees, using it as an excuse to gain time to organize their erratic thoughts.

Minkyung narrowed her beautifully shaped eyes in confusion, making her look even more with a fox than usual. Her soft features coming together nicely, matching perfectly the calm and easy going personality she had demonstrated so far.

Kang smiled, shaking her head. **“You are pretty. And tall. And smart and all that.”** She gesture towards the girl with a smile. She just wanted to light up the mood, and her way of doing so was to say whatever was on her mind. **“My teenager self would have _fangirlied_ so hard seeing you, that I’m almost glad we didn’t meet before or you would remember me as the embarrassing kid at school.”**

The confused expression, gave place to a big smile that soon reached Minky’s eyes turning them into crescents that were almost as big as her sister’s, Yewon. A compliment was the last thing she expected in that moment, albeit she was glad Yaebin was able to break down the tension.

 **“I hate to ruin your illusions, but I was a pretty awkward kid back then. You know those kids that are only legs and arms? That was me.”** It was a bit of exaggeration, of course. However, she had a hard time adjusting to her own body after her grown spurt. **“Besides, you are really pretty yourself. I doubt anyone would ever complain about having you infatuated of them.”**

 **“Hm, maybe? I have to have some confidence sometimes.”** It was Yaebin’s turn to laugh.

This time, the silence that proceeded was a comfortable one. Everything about the soul mark had been so dramatic and negative so far, that thinking about a better scenario was a good way of getting them to relax and enjoy a bit each other’s company.

 **“I know this may sound weird, but I just wanted to get to know you a little more. Maybe like this we could understand why we got these things.”** Minkyung said, referring to the marks. Yaebin noticed the way the girl never looked in the direction of her own soulmate mark, instead she would touch the ring on her hand – Minkyung might want her friendship, however there was no doubt to whom she was still loyal to. Despite her reasons, she had a good point.

**“Yes, Minkyung. I would like that.”**

 

 

* * *

 

 **“Where were we? Oh yeah, the time travel! I think we need to increase the contrast of the colors, it doesn’t look good yet.”** Siyeon said, still focused on the work even after all these hours.

 **“I agree. But leave it for now. Tomorrow we will finish it.”** Kyungwon yawned, adjusting her bag over her shoulders. It had been a very long day of work, and thanks to Siyeon’s help they had advanced the project. If they kept this pace, they would be able to deliver the chapter even before the deadline. Maybe it was because she was in a different place that didn’t constantly reminded her of unpleasant things, but she even manage to draw somethings on her own.

The moon was up in the sky already and she should get going. Although Park insisted on saying that they could put up an all nighter, Kyungwon knew better than put her friend in such a terrible working situation that wouldn’t be good neither for them, nor the quality of the work.

Now she was ready to go, making her way towards the exit when her eye caught something.

 **“Is this the new volume? I thought it would be out only next week?”** She asked, noticing the comic book laying on the coffee table near Park’s laptop. Kyungwon didn’t like those, but Minkyung had every single volume.

 **“It’s a special edition. Didn’t you know?”** Siyeon replied, using a hand to cover her own yawn. Clearly that stubborn kid also needed some rest.

 **“No, I think I forgot about it…”** Perhaps she should pay a visit to the bookstore near her neighborhood and get one for her girlfriend. Maybe this kind of small gesture would make things feel a bit normal again.

 **“Now just rest, okay?”** She reached out to ruffle younger girl’s dark hair in an affectionate way. **“Thanks for today, Ddiddi.”**

 **“If you were really thankful you wouldn’t do that!”** The raven protested, trying to fix her hair back in place. Kyungwon left out a small laugh.

 **“I’ll bring lunch tomorrow, so wait for me!”** She waved goodbye and soon she was on the move.

It didn’t take long to go from the campus to her quiet neighborhood. Luckily at that time most people had already gone back home so there was little traffic and the subway barely had people filling the carts. As soon as she left the station, she made sure to check her wristwatch, confirming that it was almost time for the bookstore to close, therefore she would need to hurry up.

Thanks to her long legs and stubborn nature, she was able to reach the place while the doors were still open and the bright yellow sign was still on. A little smile appeared on her face as she breathed in relief, her steps becoming slower to allow her to catch her breath properly.

Her steps soon came to a stop as she looked through the store’s window, noticing a very familiar figure sitting beside the bookstore’s owner. There was a smile on Minkyung’s face, one that she hadn’t seen in weeks, and it was directed to the other woman.

Kyungwon had told her to go after her soulmate. Could it be…?

In the day of the concert she wasn’t able to see the girl properly, still she remembered one of them having very dark hair, pale skin and small stature…The description was a perfect fit. Kyungwon had visited the place several times to get Minkyung her favorite comic books. She started doing it when Minky got too busy with work and Kyungwon figured leaving her little gifts would be a good solution to make her days at work better.

How ironic.

The bookstore girl also had a smile on her face, her pretty face free of worries, just like Minkyung in the moment.

They looked good together. She wasn’t ready to see it yet, maybe she would never be.

Kyungwon made a turn, making her way back home. Perhaps she would need to pull an all nighter after all. Not for work, for her own sanity.

 


	8. Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is mainly a transition chapter, so please bear with me even if it's a bit confusing.

 

Kyulkyung let a small smile make its way to her face as she watched the two women trying to find comfort in each other. It wasn’t a happy smile, though, the girl never wanted to make anyone unhappy with her plans. She didn’t need to watch any more, therefore she left with light footsteps that they wouldn’t be able to hear. Her mission there was done and had been easier than she thought.

Her boss, the ever somnolent Nayoung, made a pretty big mistake and now Kyulkyung was trying her best to fix it – and also to make sure her loved ones had their deserved happy ending, but not anyone’s expenses hopefully. The Chinese expected Nayoung fall asleep to sneak out for a bit. The older woman was too slow and unaware of how humans really worked to understand how time could make all the difference. Kyulkyung didn’t want to see Yaebin going through a hard time, therefore she took matters at her own hands.

That woman, Minkyung, needed to go and Yaebin as soon as possible, the Chinese girl had come to make sure she would do it. The original plan was to whisperer onto Kim’s ear until the idea of visiting the book store was firmly planted on her mind. Although, she didn’t need to do much. Kyungwon pretty much took care of it all on her own and Ju only had to give her some light incentive to allow her say what was already in her mind – she felt bad for the brown haired woman, Kang was in a very uncomfortable position, but there wasn’t much she could do about it.

The black haired assistant decide to head to a new place, one that she had never stepped into as a human.  Don’t be mistaken, Kyulkyung didn’t enjoy sneaking in unnoticed, she was never the nosy type. But when you can’t be seen by most people it’s hard to ask them if you can come over, so she could only hope people didn’t mind her little visits. This person in special, she was almost sure wouldn’t mind her company.

The living room was well tidied up, everything in its rightful place. The sight made the girl sigh. Eunwoo was a messy person by nature, this new organization habit of hers, that was probably her new coping mechanism, still didn’t seem normal to Kyulkyung. Not that much seem normal to her anyway. Things changed great with time and she would never get used to it completely.

The young dark haired woman had ‘comeback’ recently to earth. Instead of a new life, she received the duty of helping Nayoung on her work managing the books and making sure no more mistakes were made. For the first year she wasn’t allowed to step out of Im’s Manuscripts, it was her trainee period and she wasn’t allowed to contact humans yet, for what she felt so incredibly bitter at first but eventually was grateful for. Back then her memories were a mess, making it hard to accept her new condition and how it affect her (after) life. It was a long process, albeit she eventually understood the reason for being placed where she was now. Being with Nayoung and her annoying old books, she had a chance of actually helping out her friends and this was more than most people ever had. 

One of Im’s slips had lead to this complicated situation, a little mistake that became bigger as Fate acted upon it. Kyulkyung couldn’t really blame the goddess, after all her job was incredibly complicated since she had to work in sync with Destiny and they often had divergent plans. Nevertheless, this mistake in particular wasn’t something they could solve easily – well, technically they could simply ignore it, but Ju wouldn’t let Nayoung live if the woman didn’t allow her to give it a try. Her boss, although a bit stiff, had a warm heart and was kind enough to allow the girl to do so.

Making sure Minkyung went out to see Yaebin was only part of her plan, she was keeping her fingers crossed for the rest of it to work out as well. 

Leaving aside her ponderations, she looked around the place in the search of a certain blond haired woman. Her visit her wasn’t a busyness one, she just missed seeing Eunwoo sometimes – Nayoung was good at pretending to not know about it.

As usual, she found the woman in front of her laptop, seating on the couch. Her fingers were actively smashing the keyboard keys, typing away thoughts much faster than Kyulkyung remembered. Nunu was a journalist, a professional snooper like she liked to call. She was probably up to something, maybe a new scoop that could make her win some extra bucks.

This time the smile that appeared on her face was genuine, her quick steps reaching the taller woman as she throw her arms around Jung in a tight back hug. **“Eunwoo!”** Kyulkyung snuggled her face against the woman’s shoulder, sighing happily. **“What are you doing this time? I hope you are not following celebrities again.”** Of course there was no reply, it never was. Eunwoo couldn’t see, nor hear her. Still, Ju always insisted on talking to her in the hopes at least a little bit of her feelings could reach her.

Looking over Eunwoo’s shoulder she could see a document filled with words, a boring text about economics or whatever thing Jung had to cover for the newspaper this week. The Chinese girl clicked her tongue, she knew how much the blonde hated this kind of stuff. **“Sorry about it. Better luck next time, honey!”** Kyulkyung said using her sweet and encouraging tone before kissing Jung’s soft cheek – in what Nayoung would call a level three infraction, but the goddess didn’t need to know about it.

A shiver shook Eunwoo out of her concentration, making her jump off on the couch to look behind her. There was nothing there, as expected, it was just her scared cat instinct in action. Jung was good with horror as long as it was only on the TV screen, in real life she would rather to cross the road than walk past a creepy figure during night. 

Kyulkyung giggled at the cute sight. At first to see Eunwoo acting like this to her affection would make her upset, but now she was used to it to the point of pranking the girl once in a while.

Eunwoo shook her head, her eyes still wandering through the room. She could swear she felt some sort of touch on her face, almost like a light kiss. Even before it, she felt her shoulders heavy with extra weight on them… **“Jung Eunwoo, you need a break.”** She spoke to herself, going back to focus on her computer. She saved her work and closed the tab, switching to her browser to try distract herself looking through her facebook feed. 

** “Well, Yaebin never said I couldn’t do it on my own…” ** She muttered, remembering she was still to check on Yaebin’s mystery girl. She quickly typed into the search box for the girl’s name, taking only a few filters to redirect her to a list of people that fit the profile her friend had described. She knew Yaebin was being careful to not get hurt or hurting anyone, however, Eunwoo knew all too well time was precious and shouldn’t be wasted. Therefore, she would try her best to help the Kang.

Kyulkyung watched as the blonde went through various profiles, her little hands never stopping moving as she searched. Jung had this dork personality and always talked too much, what often made people overlook how smart and determinate she really was, she only needed to focus onto something.

** “Damn time!” ** She complained to herself, taking a look at the hours at the corner of Eunwoo’s laptop screen. She had to get going, someone important was meeting her soon at the park and she had to be there – it was her other boss, one that Nayoung hopefully wasn’t aware of or she would definitely get grounded again. 

It was too bad, Eunwoo was closer of finding the right Kim Minkyung and she would love to hear her little comments regarding the girl. **“Good luck, honey. I’ll be back some other time. Don’t forget to eat!”** She said, laying one last kiss on the girl’s cheek before disappearing.

Another shiver run down the blonde’s body due to the electric contact she felt on her cheek. She covered the area with one of her small hands, once again looking behind, trying to spot anything just to not see anything. She scrunched her nose, annoyed. **“I swear to God, if it is you Ju Kyulkyung…”** She sighed. **“I miss you. I’m glad you still have fun visiting me.”** She spoke in a small voice, one that only herself would be able to hear. Sometimes she really thought Kyul was there, and no matter how dumb and unrealistic it was, she still held onto these little moments as if it was something special and not just a signal of her going mad. Eunwoo was trying her best to move on with her life, but it didn’t mean it was an easy task.

** “Now no more jokes! I need to find this girl and give her a piece of my mind.” **

What she didn’t know, neither did Kyul, was that someone else was also keeping tabs on them both, making sure they wouldn’t do anything to harm her own plan. Things were about to take a very big turn, and Destiny herself couldn’t allow anyone messing it up. So she made sure to not show up for her meeting with that old annoying library keeper – like she used to call Nayoung -- , nor allow Eunwoo’s path to cross with Yaebin’s for the next couple of days.

 

* * *

 

A gentle breezy was blowing, bringing a pleasant feeling to the end of the afternoon. Minkyung closed her eyes, allowing herself to relax for a moment. It was comfortable, almost too comfortable, just like finally having a day off after long days of work. She was afraid of clinging onto this feeling, albeit she didn’t want to let go either. After weeks of self-battle, frustration and denial, it was weird that she only found peace in little moments like this.

She opened her fox like eyes, slightly turning her head so she could look at the direction she knew Yaebin was coming from.  She was started to understand at least one of the mechanisms that connect through the soulmate mark. Not only the brief, subtle warm feeling it would give out whenever the small Kang was around, but also her own inner capacity of telling when they were close.

It would be their third meeting ever since she had accepted Kyungwon’s suggestion and met Yaebin. It was awkward at first, but it was really easy for her to be around the girl and it seems like the same was true for the other girl – she wasn’t sure how much of it had to do with their soul marks, nor if she could considerer it solely a good thing. Meeting with Yaebin should only be a way to find out how she could avoid this whole soulmate stigma and move on with her life afterwards, however, she couldn’t completely shake off her fear that it would soon grow into something more that she couldn’t control.

In these moments she had to try her best to keep any thoughts of her girlfriend at the bay, or else guilt would fill her up and she wouldn’t be able to think about anything else.

Minkyung took a deep breath, trying to enjoy the smell of the flowers and use it to calm herself. It was fine. She wasn’t going on dates, she wasn’t being disloyal, she was just meeting a friend with whom she had more in common than usual. That’s all.

At least it was what she hoped for, she thought as the dark haired woman came into sight bringing an spontaneous smile to her face.

 **“Hey you.”** She greeted, straightening herself, moving a bit on her seat at the bench to make space for the shorter girl.

Kang waved, returning the greeting.

 **“Am I late? I had some customers that just wouldn’t go away until they made me look for a bunch of books I didn’t even knew we had.”** Yaebin sat down after greeting the older woman with an apologetic smile.

Their previous meetings were at the book store, but she felt like they would talk more freely outside the place.

 **“Don’t worry. I just got here and it’s pretty nice anyway.”** Minkyung replied with her usual musical tone, that one that always seem so calm and composed.

Yaebin nodded, her own smile growing a bit wider. She was starting to get used being around the taller woman. Kim was quite an intriguing figure. Minky had the looks to make a strong first impression, her eyes often looking more cold than they actually were, however, as soon as she spoke it was easy to tell how charming and nice she was.

Now that Yaebin was having the opportunity of knowing her better, it was rather easy to understand why they had each other’s marks. She had joked about how much she would have fawned over the other girl if they met back then, but even now sometimes she caught herself a bit dazzled by the other woman’s simple presence. That day was definitely one of these occasions.

Minkyung wasn’t looking at her, her gaze focused on the flowers that adorned the park and shine with the last rays of sun reaching them. The book store owner took her time watching Kim’s elegant profile and relaxed posture, glad the other woman was slowly become more used to her presence and it didn’t look that much like she was only obligating herself to do so. Although Yaebin didn’t miss how distract she looked, as if her thoughts were far way of here.

She didn’t say anything, she wouldn’t. Whatever relationship they had, it wasn’t as simple as her other friendships and both of them knew it. Sometimes she wondered where it all would lead them, and she’d always brush the thought aside, insisting in keeping her mind in the present and not in some ambiguous predictions that might never come true.

 **“It indeed is. Spring is my favorite time of the year.”** She beamed, averting her gaze from the girl to the cherry blossom tree that stand tall right beside the bench, showering them with its flowers. She loved the light pink of the flowers, the way it would always make everything look a bit more like the animated movies she used to watch and less like the grey streets of Seoul. Taking one  of the flower petals between her fingers, she smiled remembering where they had stopped last time.

 **“What is your favorite color?”** It was always like this. Simple questions, bit of information exchanged as they tried to get to know each other without intruding too much. It was almost childish, but this approach was enough for now. If they were really soulmates – even if only as friends –, they had a whole life ahead of them, so there was no need to rush.

Yaebin’s voice took Minkyung out of her wandering thoughts, forcing her to pay attention. She followed the younger girl’s gaze, watching as the petals would float away as the wind hit the branches gently. It was beautiful. **“I like it, even if it’s a bit colder than usual this year.”** Or perhaps she only perceived it like that due to her emotional state. **“I like black and white. But Kyung…I heard that white doesn’t count since it is only a mix of all colors.”** She bit the interior of her cheek, hoping her little slip wouldn’t be noticed. She had told Yaebin about Kyungwon, but she never gave her any details. She felt like talk about her girlfriend would throw them back to the awkwardness of their first conversation that week, even if Yaebin didn’t mind, she wouldn’t be able to ignore the thoughts that would fill her mind.

Maybe Yaebin didn’t heard it, or she simply was kind enough to overlook it.  **“Well, aren’t most colors just the result of other colors? In the end it’s all the same.”** She left out a small chuckle, breaking the tension. **“I like black as well. I have plenty of clothes in this color. My grandmother says I’ll be in a lot of trouble once I get a pet and the fur gets everywhere.”**

 **“I had a dog when I was younger. He was white, so I can understand what your grandma means.”** She laughed, more relieved than anything else. Minkyung thanked mentally for Yaebin be such an easy person to talk to. **“So, why don’t you have any yet? Your place doesn’t allow animals or you just don’t have time?”**

 **“I just never took the time to go to the shelter and find one. Not now, but things were very erratic before and I was a bit overwhelmed…”** She still was, sometimes, when her mother would act before thinking and leave it up to her to fix everything. **“I think I’ll try to go soon. I was thinking about a cat, maybe an orange one. My friend used to have one and he was the cutest.”**

The conversation went pretty well after that, mainly focused on funny stories Yaebin had to tell about Lulu, her friend’s cat, and Minkyung’s dog. Eventually the conversation derivate to a topic Yaebin wasn’t so fond of, but it was impossible to simply ignore it forever: family. Minkyung, on the other hand, looked very comfortable talking about her family, clearly she had a good relationship with all of them.

 **“…And this one is Yewon, she is my little sister. She is kind of shy at first, but she is very friendly and the most gentle person I know. When we were small, she was always the one kid that would end up without any candy on Halloween because she would give hers to anyone who asked. I always had to look after her.”** Minky giggled, showing a picture of herself and Yewon as kids, their parents were with them at the beach and they all had large smiles on their faces. The affection in her voice while talking about her sister was endearing, they seem really close and suddenly Yaebin wished she could meet the girl as well. **“I guess she is a little less naïve now, besides she has Arin who takes good care of her. They work as musicians for the local orchestra…”** She stopped midway scrolling through her phone, where she was supposed to find pictures of the adult Yewon.

 **“You saw her already, at the concert a week or so ago, right? I was there, too. I saw you, but I don’t think you saw me.”** Kim gave the shorter girl a stiff, awkward smile. Her tone was apologetic, making it clear to Yaebin that she had purposely avoided her – she wondered the reason why and it wasn’t hard to tell. Perhaps she should feel annoyed or even upset about it, but she find it hard to have any negative emotion regarding Minkyung. If she was in her shoes, maybe she wouldn’t even be here now.

Kim finally handed her the cellphone, allowing her to see a couple that smiled brightly to the camera. It was easy to spot who Minky’s sister was, she hadn’t changed much with time. **“I try to always go and see them perform. Arin is also like a sister to me, so I feel very proud every time I got to see them both.”**

Yaebin shook her head slightly, enjoying the little smile that was once more on Minkyung’s face – it wasn’t like any other smile she had seen before, it was genuine and so full of fondness…She wondered if that smile would ever be directed to her or if she had another one, a special one that was reserved only for her loved partner.

 **“I conclude that all the Kims are pretty with cute eye smiles then.”** Giving back the phone to its legit owner, she decided was time to open up a bit as well. **“My brother is in the army. He wants to have a military career, but my mom doesn’t really agree with it…”** Yaebin grimaced. She couldn’t blame her mother for acting like that, although most countries were at peace now, being part of the army would always be a dangerous job and her mother couldn’t ignore it. The dark haired girl herself already had one or two heated discussions with her brother regarding it, after all he knew how hard things were without adding this to the equation – however, they couldn’t stop him and the family was having a hard time adjusting to his absences. **“I should’ve suggested him to audition to the marching band.”**

Minkyung nodded, seeming to understand the situation without needing to question. She gave her a reassuring smile, before standing up.

**“Let’s grab something to eat. I don’t need to be home early today and I think it’s my time to pay since you always give me that delicious coffee.”**

 

* * *

 

She looked down at the city, sitting on her comfortable chair by the balcony. A half cup of tea on hand, still steaming hot to the point that the metal slightly burnt her palm – she didn’t pay any attention to it, somehow it was good. Drinking the excessively hot liquid was one of her ways of feeling more alive, if this word was even appropriate to someone like her.

What makes one a god? What separates them from your average human? The answer was simple, yet underwhelming. Gods were nothing more than answers to humans prayers, they would come and go as needed, without a life of their own truly. Most of the times, they didn’t even had that much power – at least she didn’t.

Some called her Destiny, others Fate, the more skeptical called her Coincidence. The truth was, she was none of those. She was only a silent guard of the paths people choose to follow. She didn’t control them, she didn’t create them, her job was to only keep track of every single one and make sure time would follow its course and not stop for anyone.

It was a futile work, a heart breaking and frustrating task that never got easy. To watch it all happening and still be unable to do anything was slowly killing her – not her body, this human form that was nothing but a facade, but her true self, her will to keep going. Therefore, who could blame her for meddling sometimes? She was able to see every single possibility, all the paths that lead to happiness or pain, to success or suffering. How could she still stands and not try anything to help people pick the right way? She refused to believe that she was created only to act as a bystander.

It was impossible to just watch from faraway and she caught herself visiting more and more the human plan, for what was more a way of making her due existence a little more colorful than anything else. And the closer she got from their world, the more she wished to act and help, which inevitably  happened.

So she started her work, her real one. Through small things, a simple word or an object placed at the right time and place, could be enough to make people change their mind.  Nevertheless, there was only so much she could do. Her help was limited by many factors, one in particular. She couldn’t guide people through every choice of their lives, it wasn’t a simple task because every life was intertwined with so many others and every choice didn’t only affect one person, but many.

However, there were times where she couldn’t turn on a blind eye and pretend to not know what was coming next and how badly it could affect someone.

 Especially if it was one of the people she grew fond of while watching them. Now, one person in particular had her, almost, undivided attention most of the time. One of the funny things about her powers was that she could see all timelines that could happen, but rarely she would see herself involved in any. With this person, however, she was always present on her path. Not like a force of time, but like a close friend. Fate didn’t have many friends, even when she would walk on earth it was hard to relate to humans and create bonds. Although, it didn’t seem like the case here. No wonder she grew more and more attached to that child even before they actually interacted. The result, as expected, was disastrous.

That human didn’t have a typical timeline, her path was strongly attached to one single choice – one that she wasn’t even responsible for. Therefore, when Nayoung didn’t act as she was supposed – at least like Destiny thought was the right way – everything became chaotic and that’s when Fate decided to step in.

Right now, over ten years after she interfered on that human’s path, ignoring all the rules and overstepping Im’s domain, finally the stronger forces of the cosmos were working to bring everything to the places it was supposed to be in.

This time she couldn’t do anything, she had to stay put and watch as the treads of destiny created a new path that she couldn’t really predict. It was painful. Made her feel weird and nothing like herself. It made her feel vulnerable.

She also had to deal with Nayoung opposition and the weight of guilt for having affected not only one, but three lives.

The council would find out about what she had done sooner than later and they wouldn’t be merciful with her. What could they even do? She never really payed much attention to the council, but she was sure they wouldn’t overlook her actions.

With a deep sigh, the guardian of destiny entered the elevator that would take her to meet her favorite, and only, friend.

As soon as the doors opened she was welcome by Kyungwon’s tired smile as the girl waved to her in a greeting. She smiled back.

She couldn’t possibly regret saving that kid’s life.

 

* * *

 

 **“Kyungwon!”** Rarely she and Kyungwon would come home at the same time, their schedules were too different for it, now more than ever. But that day, like an irony of destiny, here they were both at door as Kyungwon dialed the password that would allow them to come inside. The shorter girl, however, didn’t seem really surprised to see her only giving her a short nod as she opened the door and gestured to Minky go in first.

Turning on the lights, the older woman got rid of her shoes and left her purse on the couch, watching as Kang followed suit.

 **“You are home earlier today.”** She chirped in, glad it wouldn’t be one of the days where she only got to see a glimpse of the other girl because she was too busy locked in her office or working somewhere else. Minkyung just couldn’t shake off the feeling that the brown haired woman was avoiding her. **“You are working so hard lately. Is everything okay? Will you guys make it on time?”**

 **“It’s not really early though.”** Kyungwon shrugged after checking the watch on the wall **.  “Don’t worry, we are almost done. Siyeon is faster than she looks and Sungyeon is helping out as well.”** It wasn’t the most lively answer, but it was better than the silence that seem to fill the house all the time.

Minky nodded, raising the paper bag still in her hand so the girl could see it properly. **“I bought you something to eat. You never eat properly when you are in your drawing marathons.”**

 **“Oh, you had dinner already?”** Kyungwon fixed her gaze at the restaurant’s name in the bag and nodded with a tight lipped smile. **“Thank you.”**

She hadn’t told that, but Kyungwon was far smarter than some may think and it was no wonder that she connected the dots and came to such conclusion with only a glance. **“Oh, yes. I actually ate with…”**

 **“I worked all day and my head is killing me.”** The slightly shorter girl massaged her right temple, shutting her eyes like the pain was unbearable. Minkyung felt that it was more than just an act to change the subject. **“Do you know if we still have any aspirin?”**

 **“On the bathroom’s cabinet. Do you want me to get it for you?”** She asked, ready to put down the food at the coffee table and go look for the medicine.

With a short, yet firm nod, Kyungwon declined. **“That’s okay, I got it. Thank you.”** With a small, overly polite smile she went away.

There was a strong, bitter sweet taste on the brunette’s mouth as she watched her girlfriend acting in such uncharacteristic way. Had they always been like this? Exchanging polite words that sounded way too formal and out of place, like strangers bumping into each other on the streets? Definitely not.

Minkyung set down the paper bag at the kitchen table, wondering if she should go on and prepare Kyungwon’s plate or go in and check on her. Ultimately she didn’t do anything, rooming around the room with a nervous energy she couldn’t get rid of.

The younger woman took a lot more time than needed, but once she came back, she seemed a little more approachable.

Minkyung asked her if she had find the medicine and taken it, receiving a short nod as confirmation. She decided that being more direct would be the best thing to break down the tension – or worsen it, if it was possible. **“You know, you don’t have to find excuses. It was inconsiderate of me to talk about it anyway.”**

 **“What are you saying? Of course I want to hear about your day.”** There was it again, that smile that looking nothing like Kyungwon. **“My head was just… _Twitching_ from all the work.”** She made a face, letting out a weak chuckle. **“It will be fine soon. Why don’t you tell me what you did today while I eat?”**

 **“Kyungwon. Are you sure?”** The question was for both of them. Kim didn’t feel like she was sure of anything since it all began and it was unsetting. **“You know, I can just…”**

 **“It’s fine, Minkyungie.”** The nickname, said with such ease, sounded weird to Minkyung’s ears. The last time she heard it was over an week ago and only now she realized how much she missed hearing it. **“It’s only normal that I take interest on your life, it’s what couples do. Besides, I was the one that suggested you to befriend her, wasn’t I?”**

**“Yes, but…You don’t have to force yourself if it upsets you.”**

A moment of silence, Kyungwon’s gaze wandering aimlessly through the kitchen as if she I was considering whether or not she should say something. In the end she didn’t, instead the younger woman focused on taking her food out of the bag and into the microwave. For the minute it took the meal to heat up, Minkyung could only watch as her girlfriend paced back and forth in a way that was almost childlike.

Kim didn’t say anything, she felt like she was always talking too much lately and it lead them nowhere.

 **“And here we are!”** Kang pronounced, her tone filled with an excitation that didn’t match her eyes – nothing seem to be reflected in Kyungwon’s expressive eyes lately. They were always so dark, only mirroring the lights like they were made of glass. Minkyung hated it, moreover, she hated not knowing what to do to fix it. **“I’m all ready! So, what were you saying?”**

The taller woman sighed, sitting at the table, opposite to the other girl. Telling Kyungwon about her activities with her soulmate didn’t sound anything other than torture, however omitting things from her didn’t sound any better. It seem like she was always hurting her favorite person, no matter what she did.

 **“Work was fine, my boss is out for a couple of days, so I could actually leave on time for once…Then I headed to meet Yaebin at the park, you know the one that has all those cherry blossoms…”** She slowly narrated it all, trying to tell every detail she could remember, inserting at the end her half hearted optimistic theories about how it all could help them to understand better the situation and how soon they would be able to move forward.

Kyungwon didn’t interrupted her not even once, keeping her eyes on her while she munched on the food without much enthusiasm – it was her favorite, still her expression didn’t light up not even once as she chewed.

 **“That’s good. I’m glad you are actually working things out.”** She gave her an approval nod,  standing up to go and wash the things she just used. **“And how it all made you feel?”** Her tone was still the same, slightly curious but almost indifferent. She didn’t look at Minkyung, keeping her attention on her current task.

Minky pressed her hands against one another, trying to relieve the tension she felt ever since the beginning of the conversation.

 **“I…I guess it’s fine. It’s like talking to a friend.”** She shrugged, wondering how honest see even sounded when she herself could barely wrap her mind around her own feelings.

Kyungwon turned off the water, drying her hands with calm motions, and only then she turned on her heels to face the brunette. **“Then that’s really good.”** Another small smile, her chocolate brown eyes filled with a fondness Minkyung hadn’t seen in a while. **“Remember that American show you like? Siyeonnie borrowed me some DVD’s, we can watch it a bit today. What do you think?”** She changed subjects with ease, like the tension wasn’t there only a minute ago.

Kim was a bit taken aback by the sudden change of topic, and even more for how ease going her girlfriend seem to be about it. Although she could never refuse such invitation, not when she was clinging onto every – now rare – moment they spent together.

 **“We can binge watch it all if you want. I have a couple of sick leaves to use still.”** Ditch work to act like a reckless teenager was so unlike her, however, the last month taught her to keep her priorities straight and make things between her and Kyungwon go back to normal was her number one priority in the moment.

 **“Now that’s what I always tell you!”** The Kang smiled, the first real smile she gave her that night, and for a moment, it seemed like everything was okay.

But it wasn’t, it couldn’t be.

 

* * *

 

Kyulkyung anxiously paced back and forth, her eyes fixed on the taller girl’s back that remained completely unware of her presence. It was her last chance of helping an d she didn’t want to screw up – if she could possibly do so. Now she understood why Nayoung and her other ‘friend’ were so stressed always, playing with people’s lives and the consequences of it wasn’t something pleasant.

However, she didn’t have much of a choice. The little thing she was about to do was harmless, therefore it wasn’t the real reason for her state of nerves – it was the outcome it could have that scared her. Even Destiny herself couldn’t understand fully predict what was going to happen now, and Kyul couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Her plans depended more on Minkyung’s action than her own.

She approached one of the huge shelfs filled with only the newest books, and carefully selected one. The book was light enough to allow her to move it without much effort, drawing it back only enough for her to confirm the cover was red. The dark haired girl looked over her shoulder, checking if Minkyung noticed anything, but the older woman was still focused on her tasks and didn’t even spare her a glance.

The Chinese girl took a deep breath – more out of habit than need, since technically she didn’t even need to breath anymore – getting ready to grab the book and throw it out of the shelf as far as she could. The books at the Im’s Manuscripts would move at her will, but those books weren’t human artifacts that she wasn’t supposed to be able to touch any longer. To do such small task she had to put all her mighty on it, concentrating in the feeling of touch, trying to remember how it used to feel and how she could mimic it now.

As usual, it took her two tries to be able to grab the book and pull it forward, making it come crashing into the floor with a loud thud. This time she didn’t even need  to look over her shoulder to know Kim had stood up to come and check on what was going on.

 **“How did it fall? Someone must have misplaced it.”** Minky spoke, more like mumbling to herself, as she leaned in to grab the book and inspect it. Ju thanked the gods for the girl be the only one working at the moment or else she would have to deal with a bunch of people thinking it was some sort of paranormal activity show – what wasn’t so far way of the truth.

 ** _“Remember the other book. The one you found at the old store.”_** She said, getting as close as she could from the girl, carefully to not touch her _. **“Im’s manuscript. Go and grab that book, you liked it, remember?”**_ Kyulkyung couldn’t tell how much of her words was being caught by Minky’s subconscious, but it wasn’t much more she could do. The woman had a puzzled look on her face as she carefully placed the book back in the shelf.

Kyul sighed. So much for a goddess assistant.

She passed by Minkyung, proceeding to touch the screen of the girl’s computer and then her cellphone.

It would take a little while, but she would notice the signals – hopefully. Kyulkyung needed that girl to come to the store as soon as possible.

Minkyung checked if there was any other book out of place, giving the shelf a skeptical look before coming back to her desk. It was evening already and she still had some work to do before she could leave, the last thing she wanted now was having to deal with was a crumbling bookshelf.

She barely started on her review about another one of their possible acquisitions, when a small notification popped up on the corner of the screen. She clicked it absentminded, ready to read another one of her boss’ unending complains about things she didn’t have control over. But instead, she only found a simple and direct email.

It was one of the bookstores she visited nearly a month ago, and took her a moment to remember which one it was. However, as soon as she did, she felt a knot of nervousness in her stomach. It was the creepy place filled with blank books about soulmates, the last place she visited before meeting Yaebin and getting her own soul mark.

The message on the email was simple, just an invitation for her to stop by and check everything. It was signed by someone named Im Nayoung, whom she presumed was the owner of the place.

Kim gnawed on her bottom lip, feeling uneasiness washing over her. Visiting the book store was pointless by now, her boss long forgotten about this ‘research’. Although Minkyung was having a hard time ignoring the invitation.

She had been so inside her own head with everything happening that she forgot about that bizarre afternoon at that place. All those old books seem useless back then, but now she found herself wishing she had payed more attention to them.

Reaching for her cellphone, she unlocked it and looked for the picture she took at the time, finding it easily. Just like the book that fell of the shelf early, this one had a red cover, albeit it was much bigger and heavier. Maybe she should go back and check it again, even if only to give her a peace of mind…After all, she was running out of options.

Deciding on finishing work early, she tried to focus on her current task, hoping she could do it before it was too late to visit the mysterious bookstore. Minkyung needed to go there and see the place for herself once more, maybe Nayoung could provide her some answers.

Perhaps it was just another useless try to solve all the mess that soulmate mark put her into. But still, it was worth the shot.

 

* * *

 

 **“Why can’t you mind your own business for once?”** Nayoung asked, her usually calm tone sounding slightly annoyed at the shorter woman’s behavior.

 **“I wouldn’t need to interfere if you didn’t happen to be so incompetent at your work. Besides, as you know, your business affects mine.”** The other shrugged, her eyes still focused on the work she was currently typing into her cellphone – Nayoung had no idea why she submitted herself to such mundane tasks when she was supposed to be watching the threads of destiny and making sure everything turned out for the best.

Disturb the goddess of love wasn’t an easy task, but she wasn’t facing an easy opponent. **“You just want to mess with me and spoil your pet human, what I don’t think is part of your obligations.”** She complained, stepping closer, making her tall figure stand tall closer to the petite girl.

The smirk on the girl’s face grew into a grin, completely unbothered by her attempts of intimidation. **“I’m only giving her a fair chance at having the life you took away of her.”** The guardian of fate crossed her arms, looking up at the woman with a glimpse of bitterness in her light brown orbs. She wasn’t fond of Nayoung, it was quite the opposite, and it didn’t look like it would change anytime soon.

Nayoung glared at her, a rare annoyed expression in her stone like face. The taller brunette also had her reasons to be annoyed, indeed, she had much more considering how much that woman was acting up to ruin her mood. **“You should know better than toy with humans, Sungyeon.”**

 **“You should know better than keep on making mistakes.”** The brown haired girl hissed right back.

Her divergences with Nayoung and the council weren’t anything new, what didn’t mean she would ever let it die out. The soulmates system was great, she had to admit, but still she couldn’t overlook when things like that happen. Nayoung was right after all, she indeed had a favorite human and she was doing her best to give her what she deserved to have. Sungyeon had already acted, this was only the aftermath and they both knew it.

 **“You still didn’t have the right to meddle into that kid’s life so much. You changed their timelines only to give your girl a chance.”** Nayoung pressured once more, tired of playing the elder’s game. She tried to overlook it at first, but she couldn’t turn on a blind eye forever, especially when it could lead to such disastrous outcome. **“Now, how is this fair?”**

 **“I didn’t affect their lives negatively! Yaebin’s father was destined to die either way, and you know that even I can’t do anything about it…Most of the time. I only guaranteed her a chance of living in a nice place and in a better environment for a couple of years.”** And she only had done it in exchange of delaying a bit the girl’s meeting with Minkyung, what she didn’t feel the need to voice out, although Im surely knew it.

**“Ten years is a lot of time for them! You gave Kyungwon a decade with Minkyung already. Now can’t you just let them follow the right path? Breaking the protocol won’t bring any good for us both.”**

The goddess of destiny rolled her eyes at Love’s statement. Spending her very long life trying to create the best timelines she could and giving humans all the chances of making the right choices, only to see the fools choosing the most arduous path was a pain. As Destiny, she could only give them choices, being restricted by her fellow colleagues and their own plans on what was going to happen. Nayoung was supposed to consult with her before assigning the soulmates, to watch over every potential future e pick the best matches, yet the other woman still had ideas of her own and kept ruining Sungyeon’s delicate plans.

It would have been just fine had Nayoung not forgotten about Kyungwon’s birth – honestly, she was the older twin, how come Love forgot to take note of her and only assigned a soulmate to her little sister? – and left her out of her picks, assigning someone else to Minkyung.

It wasn’t the first time something like this happened, and usually they would try to work out on fixing it by assigning her a soulmate between the widows or another unfortunate soul that hadn’t been assigned to anyone thanks to Nayoung bad sleeping habits.

However, this time it wasn’t so simple. For Kyungwon, having Minkyung in her life was essential to guarantee her future, or at least it was at some point. Nayoung by forgetting to designate her soulmate, had also singed a death sentence for that kid. And now this, was something that Fate could never allow to happen. Sungyeon had taken a very special liking of the brown haired girl. To the point where she would even go to the extents of interacting with the girl using her human form. So of course she wouldn’t let Nayoung handle it – although it might make her receive another century of workload as punishment.

**“Minkyung and Kyungwon were a match in the original timeline, the one you erased by mistake. Therefore, I’m only doing them a favor.”**

Nayoung sighed, hands massaging her aching temples. Sungyeon was making her already busy life even busier, and it didn’t help that her nosy assistant was nowhere to be seen – probably busy with her own not so secret plans.

 **“What if Minkyung chooses Yaebin still? Or better, what if your favorite child decides to act all noble and simply leave?”** Crossing her arms, she looked down on the woman that still remained sat on her comfortable chair in that average office that was so incredibly clean and bright, despite being located at the back of the old cramped library. **“You and Kyulkyung didn’t plan things so well, did you?”**

Sungyeon pressed her lips in a tight line. What she hated the most about gods was the fact that she couldn’t possible predict what they would do next, therefore she had to only count on her own luck. Her friendship with the Chinese assistant was more like an alliance to reach a common interest, something that Nayoung was trying to ruin.

**“Then you will have things your way and I won’t interfere any longer. I promise, and as you know, I keep my word.”**

Nayoung let out a heavy sigh, a wave of hand making the sign by the change from “OPEN” to “CLOSED”, just in time to Minkyung find it. The tall brunette looked frustrated, starting at the closed door for way too long before turning around to go away.

The two goddesses just watched as she made her way back, exchanging sharp glances. Nayoung, the youngest of the two, straighten her back, her expressionless face turning into a grimace. She was sick and tired of Sungyeon’s games. **“I’m not giving you any more advantages, Destiny. You are only a guardian of the lines, you don’t get to choose what happens.”**

Of course the shorter didn’t even flinch, instead her brown orbs were filled rage as she glared at Nayoung. **“Neither do you, Love. Don’t forget that.”** She took a step closer, her petite figure looking surprisingly hostile all of sudden. **“It’s better for you to have me as a friend than an enemy. Keep that in mind.”** Sungyeon graced her with a sarcastic smile, turning on her heels to leave the place.

Nayoung massaged her temples, feeling crushed by the weight of her responsibilities.

Sungyeon cursed to herself, steps hitting the ground strongly.

They both had their own visions of what was wrong and right. However, there was only so much they could do about it now.

Kyla shook her head, watching the duo from afar. As the oldest of them, she was rather nonchalant regarding human matters. She took a look at her wristwatch, glancing at the sky as a fine rain started to pour. She smiled to herself, a little voice on her head informing her that everything was going according to planned.


	9. Mistake (Original Ending)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!  this will be long so please read it all!
> 
> First, we have two very different endings here, however both contain similar scenes that will have some big differences that will affect the story. Whenever there is a scene that is exactly the same for both chapters, I will mark the first few words of it in bold so you guys can skip it if you want.
> 
> Second, flashbacks will always be canon, however the memories the characters choose to remember might diverge from one ending to the other, yet everything indeed happened. So if you are interested in the characters past, I suggest you to check both chapters, the flashbacks are marked in italic as usual.
> 
> Third and last, we all know I’m very much biased and this story was planned to have 2kyung as focus, but I tried my best to give attention to all the characters and give them some sort of closure.
> 
> This is huge and probably has a lot of mistakes, so I apologize in advance. If you read ‘till here, thank you and I hope you enjoy it :)

 

#  **_Friday_ **

 

 **Nayoung looked at her assistant** who was currently going through one of their books, noticing how upset the younger one seemed. **“So, you noticed it.”** She said in her usual calm tone, feeling a bit more in control of herself after last week’s confrontation with Fate – that short old lady surely had a temper. **“Things are bound to happen. Destiny and you should know it.”**

The raven haired woman sighed, not bothering in hiding her feelings any longer. Nayoung and her might not agree on a lot of things, but she didn’t have much option other than being honest now. **“Why couldn’t you just allow her in that day? If you had, she could’ve get the book and…”**

 **“And act as reckless as you and Sungyeon have been acting?”** Im shook her head in disapproval, crossing her arms. She might be the youngest goddess and make mistakes once in a while, however, she was trying her best to do things right this time around. **“Humans have free will for a reason. I’m giving them the right of choice, and you can’t choose things without time.”**

Kyulkyung grimaced, closing the book to glare at the older woman. **“You say this as if the mark can’t affect their feelings. The longer we wait, the stronger than bond gets.”**

Nayoung massaged her temples, an old habit that was getting out of hand with all the stress Fate and her stubborn assistant had been putting her through. One would think that her, as the guardian of the soulmates, would have more freedom to act **. “The mark can’t force them to do anything. It doesn’t create feelings, it just helps them to connect and makes things easy.”** The soulmate system, like the council liked to call, wasn’t a simple thing, it depended as much of the people as it depended of her choices – that’s why she always felt tired and stressed, overwhelmed by every single choice she ever made. She wasn’t able to create love, to forge it and give it away whenever it pleased her, she could only to give humans a good chance of developing the feeling for someone who could also feel the same. **“It can’t change their hearts. The final choice is always up to them.”**

Silence filled the air as the chinese girl took into consideration Nayoung’s words, putting the book back into the shelf. They had so many books, she had lost the count of the times she had tried to read it and failed most of the time – Nayoung told her that only who need it, can read it. She felt like she really needed it right now, yet she was only able to check the registry books and nothing else. Kyulkyung wondered if Minkyung would be able to read the red book once she got the chance or if it would be useless.

Ju had put all her hopes into this, believing it was the right thing to do. To know, there was a chance it all would only lead to another mishap was affecting her more than expected. While Sungyeon showed her unhappiness with an attitude, she could only show it by the heavy sighs she let escaped once in a while. Yaebin was a very dear person to her, her first real friend in that country and the one person who had always supported her and Eunwoo in their crazy antics. Yaebin deserved her own love story, one without so much pain and heartbreak – unfortunately, it was out of Kyulkyung’s reach. Just like giving Eunwoo a happy ending seem to be.

 **“Nayoung unnie?”** Her voice was small when she called for the elder, she could feel Nayoung’s inscrutable eyes on her. **“Sungyeon told me you are able to see a lot of things to help you choose what is best.”**

The older brunette raised her brow slightly, her eyes becoming a little sharper. **“I can’t see things like she does. I only catch a glimpse of fate.”**

 **“You can see how it ends.”** Such a simple statement also carried so much weight. Kyulkyung knew for a while about it, even before a very annoyed Destiny decide to snap at Nayoung, she was smart enough to presume it. Im needed to know this much to do her work properly, to plan on who should be with who, and when it should happen. However, it took Kyul a long time to accept what it meant to her.

Nayoung didn’t say anything, knowing what was coming next and bracing herself to a conversation she would rather to not have.

 **“If could see what my destiny was, why did you assign me a soulmate? It goes against the protocol.”** There was no anger in the assistant’s tone, she couldn’t blame Nayoung for this. As bittersweet as it was, the woman had granted her the chance of being by Eunwoo’s side, even if only for a couple of months.

The goddess let her eyes wander through the shop, avoiding Kyul’s dark eyes. She had reprimand Sungyeon for meddling in human matter, but how much better she really was? She was in no position to censor the other divinity. All the mistakes she made, every bad decision, would always torment her, but she couldn’t possibly regret that one.

 **“Doesn’t everyone deserve a chance at love?”** Braving up, the older woman looked at Kyulkyung.

The assistant could have argued that it wasn’t fair to her soulmate, nor for her, that loving and losing was much worse than never falling in love. She could have said that watching Eunwoo suffer because of her was killing her all over again. But she didn’t. Because no matter how much it pained them both, how much it made her frustrated and sad, she didn’t regret it. Kyulkyung would never regret having Eunwoo in her life, being with her and loving her. She knew it was the same for the Jung. Nayoung had giving them happiness, even if it was briefly.

So she just listened in silence, a small, sad smile on her face as she took a seat next to her boss.

**“Thank you.”**

**“I’m sorry.”**

The simple sentences, filled with sincerity were enough for now. As much as Kyulkyung’s destiny was to cross paths with Eunwoo in life, it was also her fate to stand by Nayoung for the rest of her existence. They had a long way to go.

 

 

* * *

 

Sitting at a booth in the corner of a quiet restaurant near Minkyung’s workplace, Yewon stared at her sister with shock, reaching to take Minky’s left hand between hers. Her gaze darting from her conflicted sister to the mark on her palm. **“Oh my god, _unnie_! H-How? I thought you wouldn’t ever…” **She began, her tone full of shock and worry.

Minkyung retreated her hand, feeling uncomfortable under her little sister’s gaze. She knew that her family wouldn’t deal well with it, just like herself they had grown used to the idea that she would never get a soul mark, specially one that connected her to a stranger instead of Kyungwon. Yewon hadn’t said anything about her sister in law yet, but they both knew she was wondering where it placed Kang now.

 **“I don’t know…It just happened.”** She shrugged, closing her hand and pulling it closer to her body.

With a deep breath, she gave Yewon a short version of what happened in the last month. As she spoke, she noticed Yewon’s usually bright smile slowly disappearing giving space to a gloomy look.

**“So that why you just left that night…You told mom and dad about it?”**

The older Kim nodded, refraining from grimacing at the memory. Earlier that day she had sat down with her parents and explained it all, and as expected of her parents they had supported her in the best way they could, albeit none of them knew what to tell her or how to react. They knew her girlfriend since middle school, their families were as tied together just as the girls were, and it was hard to simply act like it wasn’t a huge family matter that could affect them all.

 **“They told me to be honest with myself and do what I think is the best.”** She said, fidgeting with the ring on her hand, finding some comfort on it.  She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to make a decision when all of her choices would hurt someone in the end, including herself.

 **“It’s a good advice.”** The younger brunette’s voice was quiet, her expression thoughtful as if she was trying to form her own opinion on the matter. For her, the soulmate mark was a bless, something that connected her to someone she had loved almost instantly and brought her nothing but happiness. It didn’t seem fair that her sister received one after so long, just to ruin her already happy life. **“How is Kyungwon _unnie_ doing?”**

Another heavy sigh came out of the taller woman. **“I’m not sure. She has been very busy with work, or at least it’s what she tells me.”** Minkyung frowned, the grip on her ringer growing a bit stronger. **“She is just being Kyungwon, what means that she’s putting everyone but herself first.”** Letting go of the ring, Minkyung used her right hand to massage her temple where a headache was making her presence known. **“We don’t talk that much anymore and I can’t blame her for it. Sometimes we try but it’s… It’s hard to act like nothing changed.”**

She remembered the last time they sat down to watch her favorite series together, but instead of cuddling in the couch, spending more time making out than actually watching anything like they used to do, they sat far apart and actually paid attention to the TV, filling the empty space with random comments about the show. It was late into the night when Kyungwon had finally taking action and hugged her, for what she could only be glad and clingy into her. They didn’t say much, but it was comfortable being together. Eventually she relaxed enough to allow herself to act like she really wanted and kiss her girlfriend. It seem to be the signal that Kyungwon needed and she had promptly returned the kiss, and before they knew the TV show was only background noise for them as they focused completely in each other. It didn’t last long though, eventually Kyungwon noticed her soulmate mark and it seem to be enough to make them both awkward and ruin the moment. In the end they went to sleep with an invisible barrier between them.

 **“I don’t know what I would do in her place…I don’t even know if what I’m doing right now is the right thing for us.”** Minky spoke, feeling her eyes heavy with tears that wouldn’t fall and her shoulders even heavier with the weight of her unmade choices. She shook her head slightly. **“I just wish I didn’t have to drag her into this mess.”**

 **“You don’t have any blame on it, so don’t feel burdened.”** She gave her older sister a small, fond smile. **“You deserve the world, _unnie_. Don’t let anyone get in the way of your happiness.” **Yewon gave her hands another comforting squeeze before pulling back, giving the older girl some space.

Minkyung returned her smile. She wasn’t sure she really deserved so much kindness of all people in her life, not when she was the one putting them through such a tough time, however she was glad for having them by her side. She slid on her seat, to get closer to her little sister. **“Yewon, I love you!”** She said, hugging the younger girl tight. Yewon left out a light chuckle, hugging her back and even without looking Minkyung knew that her eye smile was back on her face as it was supposed to be. She kissed the girl’s head affectionately. **“I should’ve called you earlier, I miss talking to you.”**

 **“You can always call me, you know that. That’s what family is for.”** The smaller brunette reassured, breaking the hug to give Minkyung a gentle pat on the shoulder. **“Now let’s eat. I have to go back to my rehearsal and you to your work, and we haven’t even touched the food yet.”**

The older Kim nodded, only then realizing that her drink had gone cold and her sandwich was still intact on her plate. They ate in a comfortable silence that somewhat was the most relaxing time Minkyung had in a while – being with any of the Kangs was a pleasure and a pain at the same time, and it was something that they couldn’t help her with.

After lunch, she walked Yewon to the door, ready to wave her goodbye when the brown haired girl took a gentle hold of her hands demanding her attention. Brown eyes, the same shade as hers, faced her with seriousness albeit her sister still had a smile on her face.

 **“I’m sure Kyungwon only wants you to be happy. Just like I do.”** Yewon’s small, warm and soft hands squeezed hers gently, rubbing circles on the back of it to try and calm Minkyung down. There was hesitation in her tone, when she proceeded **. “But you also need to think about her happiness. I love you both. I hope you can find a way to work things out, as a couple or….”** The younger Kim signature smile was nowhere to be seen now, replaced by a thin line of worry. **“Anyway, I’m always here for you, so keep it in mind.”** She stepped back, letting go of the elder’s hand to give her a small wave. **“Call me if you need anything!”**

Minkyung forced her thin lips into a smile, returning her little sister’s wave with a weak one. **“I’ll. Take care, Yewonie.”**

 

 

* * *

 

Kyungwon left out a yawn, covering her mouth even though she knew it was useless. Having just made the final touches up in the chapter and sent it in to Sungyeon a couple of hours ago, she was more than just tired. Siyeon, her hyperactive assistant, had helped her greatly, just like her nagging agent encouraging her to ‘not even think about not meeting the deadline’ – Sungyeon could be rather scary at times. Luckily, all of them were satisfied with the results and now they would take a much needed break.

However, she still had some things to do and she was currently working on one of them – if visiting her parents could be called that. The cab left her in front of the house and she made her way to the door, being met by nothing but quietness. The Kangs were a loud family, after all she took after them, so the silent could only mean one thing. She made a face, taking out her cellphone to call her mother and a minute later she entered the house using the spare key that her parents still left in the same place. They would be out until late night, visiting a relative, so she would have to wait for them.

Kyungwon entered the house and she was changing into the comfortable slippers her parents kept in the hall when a ball of white fur came running to meet her. **“Kang Kongie!”** She greeted with a sincere smile that was hardly seen lately, lowering herself to hug the small dog to her chest. The little guy greeted her with plenty of wet kisses that made her laugh and try to avoid his attempts of licking her face clean **. “I missed you, too!”** She caressed his soft fur, hugging him a little tighter.  The last month had been so tough on her that she couldn’t come by to see him, although she would still video call her family once in a while, it was not the same as to hold her dog in her arms.

 **“When summer finally arrives we are going to that hotel I told you about.”** Talking to Kongie may seem a little silly, considering the dog couldn’t really understand her words, but still it helped her relax and feel closer to him. Being around her beloved dog, in her family house had a calming effect on her, bringing the kind of happiness she wasn’t able to feel at her own house anymore. **“I bought you some snacks! You want it?”**

Placing the dog back on the floor, Kang reached out for something in her backpack, grabbing the dog cookies. Kongie obediently followed her as she searched for his plate and finally gave it to him. **“Here you go! Good boy, you are the best boy!”** She ruffled his fur a bit, before giving him some space so he could stuff himself with the snacks.

Leaving her backpack on the couch and getting rid of her coat, she made herself comfortable. Her mom had told her where to find food in case she felt hungry, but the brown haired woman couldn’t bring herself to eat anything – albeit she probably should, considering how much her mother would nag her for being too skinny and all those things every mom says. Instead, she walked through the house, smiling at the little details that bring her good memories. Her smile became smaller as she looked at the pictures where Minkyung was also present, as if she was part of the family as well. Shaking her head slightly, she moved, walking towards her room where pretty much everything still remains the same as when she was still in school.

Kongie, who came running as soon as he finished his meal, was once again following her, although he climbed her bed and lay there accompanying her with his eyes instead of running around. He was getting old. **“Feeling tired? Yeah, me too.”** Giving him a weak smile, she took a seat by her old desk, going through her old notebooks filled with drawings that ranged greatly in quality, but didn’t fail to make her smile nostalgic. The collection of illustrations were mainly from high school, the time where she first went to Seoul to study and would send her parents some drawings illustrating her daily life. Her dad, the gentle and warmhearted man, kept it all with great care and it was the reason for her to keep sending it even when she felt tired and frustrated with her school routine. Surprisingly, there weren’t that many mentions of Minky in her letters or in the drawings, however she knew soon the other girl would start to pop up more and more on it, claiming a very important place in her life.

Tapping her fingers on the paper, she contemplate whether she should put it away before the memories hit her or if she should continue exactly because of it. **“I’ve become a fool, Kongie.”** She said, glancing at the dog that was sleeping unbothered by his owner internal conflict. Turning the pages, she continue to observe as her drawings improve in quality and slowly introduce Minky to her life – her best friend as she addressed the girl numerous times. There wasn’t that much information, but every time she caught a glimpse of a new draw she would remember vividly making it and how she felt in the moment, it was like her own time machine. She smiled a bit, enjoying the little nostalgic trip until she reached a page with only one a phrase ‘Nothing for now’. It was date November five – her birthday.

 

_The girls sat together at the corner of the tennis court, a place that the students shouldn’t even be at night, but it was one of the only places they knew no one would come to bother them. It wasn’t like them to just stay in silence for that long, but neither knew how to address to the elephant in the room. It was almost midnight, the beginning of a new day and the ending of Kyungwon’s sixteen birthday. It was also the confirmation of what they had feared to receive._

_Her birthday should be a happy date, but she had spent it worried about whether or not she would receive her soul mark and the more time passed, less hopeful she was, until there was nothing left._

_She hadn’t got a mark, more specifically, she hadn’t get one with Minkyung’s name on it._

_Their clean palms were the proof that they weren’t meant to be and any childish illusions they had of a fated meeting were just it, illusions. They both were smart, Minkyung was one of the most intelligent kids in their years and Kyungwon was quite clever as well, therefore they were aware of how the odds were never on their favor. Still, they had hoped that the connection they always felt was more than mere friendship._

_Kyungwon’s wrist watch beeped, signalizing the ending of the day and of any hopes they could’ve had._

**_“We should get going. We’ll be in trouble if someone finds us out here at this hour.”_ ** _Minky was the voice of reason, as usual. She had a robotic smile on her face that didn’t match her eyes, unable to fool her best friend._

 **_“Let’s just stay a bit longer.”_ ** _Kang asked in a quiet voice, a serious expression on her face that didn’t sound like her usual loud dork self. She slip her left hand – giving it one final look to make sure nothing had changed –  on Minkyung’s cold one, slowly intertwining their fingers. She wished she could simply confess her feelings, ignoring whatever plans destiny had for them and following her heart only. But it would be too stupid even for her impulsive self. Instead, she only squeezed Minky’s hand gently, giving her a tight lipped smile._

_Minky smiled slightly, looking down on their jointed hands. She relaxed, resting her head on the younger girl’s shoulder. Her gaze wandered, watching the quiet surrounds. At night it was only possible to hear the soft claim of the wind against the trees and the noise of cars far away, one or other bug chirping somewhere on the grass. It gave them a feeling of solitude, but a comfortable one, as if they were alone in their little world._

**_“I like it here.”_ ** _The little squeeze on Kang’s hand and the fond look Minkyung gave her revealed the meaning underlying her words. I like you._

_A glimpse of her usual grin appeared on Kyungwon’s face as she rested her head on top of Minkyung’s. **“Me too.”**_

 

That same smile graced her face now as she closed the notebook. She had been avoiding things too much lately, lost in a circle of denial that was almost impossible to break. Forcing herself to distance from Minkyung to give her space to take her own decisions and try to shut off all the memories of them as if like this she could prepare herself for the worst case scenario. She had tried to be considerate and think about was the best for everyone, but was it really “everyone” if it was killing her inside? Minky had been with her all the way, was it really fair to leave her alone now even if it seem like the best choice logically?

Even now, hours away from their house and Kim, she couldn’t take her mind off of her completely. A brief look around the room only served to remind her that Minkyung was deeply incrusted in her life. Between her favorite DVDs and books, there were also numerous one that Minky had recommended to her or even that she had gifted her. On the pictures in the wall she could also spot their pictures together, right beside the silly pictures of her and her siblings in funny poses.

As the oldest, she always felt protective of the other two, making sure they were always safe and sound. It was a relief to know they both, her twin sister and her younger brother, had grown up just fine and were already starting their own families now. It was weird, that out of everyone in her family, she was the only one who hadn’t been graced with a soul mark and a fixed fate. She wondered if it meant something.

Standing up, she noticed her old keyboard in a corner. Kyungwon didn’t play since college, her focus switching completely to drawing and forgetting about her old hobbies. She took a step closer the instrument, but gave in half way. She wanted to play again, but she felt like if she did now the songs would only sound as melancholic and torn as she was. Besides, she still had to wait a couple of hours until her parents came back, and it would be better to use it to sleep.

Changing into one of her old clothes, she took a place beside Kongie in the narrow bed and quickly fell asleep.

Kyungwon was woke up hours later by parents coming in. She glanced at Kongie that still slept comfortably on the bed. With a sigh, she stood up, careful to not make too much noise, and left the room. She had come all the way here to tell them what was going on, but suddenly it didn’t seem like the best idea. She would think about it later, for now she would just hug her parents and find comfort in their presence.

Perhaps spending some time out would help her see things more clearly.

 

 

* * *

 

 **Yaebin waved goodbye to her coworkers,** locking the bookstore doors. It had been a tough day, full of customers coming and going, her mother calling her inquiring about her soulmate mark – she had no idea how the woman knew about it, but she knew for sure she didn’t want to talk to her about it just yet. While her only reliable confident, Eunwoo, had disappeared since last week, off to work on something – it was easy to drown into her own problems, but Eunwoo was still her closest friend and someone dear to her heart, not knowing where she was or what she was doing wasn’t something she could handle with easily. Nunu wasn’t an investigative reporter, and she tried to remind herself that the other was most likely just trying to get a scoop on some random celebrity and not trying to reveal a new drug cartel. However, it didn’t mean she didn’t miss her loud and nosy friend.

To complete, Kyla suddenly informed her that it would be her last week at work and now Yaebin would have to find a new part time worker that would hardly be as hard working and trustworthy as the younger girl was. Yooa said she knew someone, but they would still have to go through the normal interview process and Kang really hated this part of the work. She covered her mouth, yawning as she stepped back. Usually Minkyung would have come over to their usual meeting – was it a date? A reunion? She had no idea, but she couldn’t deny that it was becoming of her favorite things. However, she was too busy with work and Minky was also caught up with something, so they agreed on having lunch together the next day instead.

The small brunette was about to start her walk home, when two arms hugged her tightly, an annoyingly loud – yet very familiar– voice sounding close to her face. **“Kang Yaebin!”** Eunwoo greeted, giving her an overly energetic smile that could only belong to the blonde. Yaebin chuckled, shrugging the girl off, just to hug her properly right after. She hadn’t seen Jung in days, what for them wasn’t something very common.  **“Jung Eunwoo!”**

They both laughed, breaking the embrace so they could talk as they walked to the common direction that would lead to their neighborhood. **“Where have you been? You haven’t even called me.”** The slightly younger woman asked, glancing at the blonde that just shook her head.

 **“All of sudden I got this huge scoop and had to fly all the way to Jejudo! Can you believe it? I mean, it was nice and free, but I had barely time to breath running after leads before the other journalists get to it.”** As usual Nunu explained while making over exaggerated hand gestures, explaining in detail how she had figured out about a scheme that was going on in the place and had to pull all nighters to get to the bottom of it before someone else did. Yaebin couldn’t help but smile fondly at her antics, knowing that the girl was most likely exaggerating everything to make the story more exciting. She hugged the girl by the shoulder, bringing her down to kiss her cheek affectionately. **“Ew, what are you even doing Kang?!”**

Yaebin smiled grew wider. **“I missed you so much, Nunu!”** And even though the blonde was making her best acting to pretend being annoyed about the sudden demonstration of affection, she knew Eunwoo felt the same way. After all, they had been through a lot together all these years and there was no one she was closer than Nunu. **“Let’s have dinner together.”**

Eunwoo smiled, giving up on pushing the girl away at the thought of food. **“You are paying.”**

The shorter brunette faked a sigh. **“Only because we are going to that vegan restaurant at…”**

 **“What? No! This doesn’t count as food!”** As expected the refusal came soon and Yaebin laughed out loud.

 **“Then you are paying!”** She replied in the same tone, still clinging to the girl’s arm as they walked. She missed their bickering, the ease going conversation that she could only share with her best friend. They kept arguing for a while, before setting down on a chicken stew place not so far from there. As they walked, an insistent smile was on Kang’s face, as she remembered their first meeting. She could never have imagined that a college project could bring such a good friend into her life.

 **_“Hey!...Hey you, look over here!”_ ** _Yaebin heard someone whisper shout, right behind her. She turned around to face the girl who was still waving her hands frantically. Kang frowned, confused with the others actions. It was only their second week of classes, she was having a hard time memorizing all the new faces in her classes._

 **_“Hi?”_ ** _She tried, unsure of what to say._

 **_“You don’t have a pair, do you? Come here, I’m alone too.”_ ** _The girl called, her monolid eyes now curved in a smile just like her lips. Yaebin hadn’t even agreed on it yet, but she had a feeling it would be really hard to deny anything to the other girl, so she simply did as she was told – after all she would need to find a partner sooner or later, therefore was better to do it now and start the activities._

 **_“Hm, hey. I’m Kang Yaebin, by the way.”_ ** _The smaller woman introduced herself, switching seats so she could seat beside the girl. She took a good look at her partner, noticing how bright her dark eyes were, contrasting with her light brown hair and her red lipstick. The girl was tall, even sitting, it was possible to notice their height difference – what was rather funny considering how small her hands were when she offered it for a friendly handshake. **“Jung Eunwoo, nice to meet you!”** That girl was one of kind, Yaebin decided as she shook hands with Eunwoo._

_Yaebin opened her book alongside her laptop, ready to begin the work, but even before she could suggest anything Eunwoo subtly elbowed her to whisper. **“I have no idea what we are supposed to do, but the teacher is looking at us so pretend you are typing something smart!”**_

_The younger girl had to purse her lips to refrain from laughing at Eunwoo’s urgent tone. She started to type the works title, feeling the taller girl’s gaze on her back. **“Don’t be too impressed. I’ll let you do all the research since I’m already doing the first part of the assignment.”** _

_Eunwoo opened her mouth to protest, but Yaebin cut her off. **“Don’t worry, it’s easy. Take a look at my notes.”** She said more gently, giving the girl a reassuring smile._

_With a exaggerate sigh, Eunwoo nodded, return the smile. **“Just give me a minute.”**_

_Soon Jung also had her laptop open to search the things Yaebin would tell her._

_Yaebin learned that Eunwoo wasn’t exactly the most attentive person in class, yet she was really quick to catch up on the subjects and had a special way with the words that made the Kang regret not having let her write first. Later that day, when Eunwoo dragged her out to have a completely unhealthy lunch at the cafeteria, she learned that Jung was majoring in journalism and although she was a total dork – who had the very terrible habit of talking while trying to gulp down her fries – , she was also an incredibly smart one._

_They ended spending more time than it was necessary together, forgetting about the work to just talk about random stuff. Yaebin would hear Eunwoo’s overly exaggerate stories and laugh as she pointed out all the clumsy lies the girl included to make it more impactful. She also talked about her own major and how she was adapting to college and living in a dorm, the taller girl would listen to her with attention, giving out tips and telling her own struggles. They both were freshmen, however Jung seem to know every single corner of the campus already and excited to show it all to her new friend._

_Eunwoo was her total opposite, and perhaps that was why they clicked so well._

 

 

* * *

 

The house was empty when Minkyung finally came back home after one of the most stressful work days of her life – her annoying boss was being investigated for some shady scheme and she had to spend the whole afternoon and part of the evening helping her superiors go through the woman’s archives. She would have laughed at the irony of such an austere woman that overworked her and the rest of the staff, was only making easy bucks by selling titles to a rival company instead of actually working. But she didn’t. Kim was too tired to express so much emotion, besides now she didn’t even know what they would make with her department at the company, she might even be lay off if they decided to close the department.

She let herself sink into the couch, not bothering to take off her coat or turning on the lights. She wished she could just close her eyes and sleep there for the whole weekend – unfortunately she couldn’t. Although the company had gave her the two days off, she had other things in her mind.

Her eyes went to the corridor that would lead to Kyungwon’s office. Her girlfriend was out, off to see her parents for the day and probably would only be back by tomorrow’s night – if she did as usual, it wouldn’t be so weird if Kang simply decided to spend more time away. Minkyung couldn’t blame her.

If the pressure of the situation was big on her, it was also heavy on the younger woman. Kyungwon hearty laughter hadn’t filled the place in a long time, her grin was less and less frequent and Minky could see a constant worry in her pretty eyes. Even if Kyungwon gave her the chance of meeting Yaebin and getting to know her better, it didn’t mean that she wasn’t suffering due to it.

If only Minkyung could find a solution that wouldn’t hurt anyone…But she knew all too well that hope for it, while doing nothing, was not only selfish but blatantly wrong. Time wouldn’t do them any good, it would be the opposite. 

Kyungwon was distancing herself from her, whether it was consciously or not, turning what used to be a very intimate relationship just a couple of meetings every night when they bumped into each other after work. She knew it was Kang’s way of protecting herself while giving her space, but sometimes she wished her girl could be a little less altruistic. But she was. Therefore, Minkyung should be a bit more as well and take the lead for once.

She never needed to analyze her feelings deeply to know how she felt about her girlfriend, even when she tried to deny the feeling, it was just too big for her to hide it. Kyungwon was there and she knew right away she was special for her, the evolution of these feelings was only natural and she never doubt the sincerity of them.

 

_The cramped college dorm room wasn’t exactly the most comfortable, especially during the cold season, but Minkyung didn’t have much of choice other than stay inside finishing her assignments – or at least it was the excuse she had used to skip snowball fighting with Kyungwon outside. Not that she wouldn’t like to get some shots at the girl’s conceited smile when she claimed to be a ‘god of the snow’ or some dumb thing like this, usually she would have accepted right away and they would spend hours running around and playing like kids. However, this year things were different. They were both twenty now, juniors at college, and pretty much the only two people on campus without soul marks._

_After Kyungwon’s sixteen birthday when her fragile hopes had been crashed, she thought that soon enough she would be able to meet her designated soulmate and once it happened, she would be able to forget any inappropriate feelings. But she didn’t, and neither did her friend. So she was put in an awkward situation, where she couldn’t allow herself to want anything more than friendship from the girl, while she had to wait for someone else and hope they would be enough to make her love them as much as she loved her best friend – love seemed like a big word, a dangerous one, and she tried her best to represses it and pretend it wasn’t more than just a crush. It was dumb. She knew Kyungwon felt the same way, she could see every time the girl looked at her with those loving eyes that she loved so much._

_Yet, she was afraid of admitting her feelings to the girl. She was afraid to start something and live under the fear of her soulmate showing up out of nowhere to tell her she had been wrong all along and what she thought was love, was only her mistaking friendship as something else._

_She was spacing out when the door crack open, Kyungwon’s bright grin greeting her and making her blush slightly as her heart skipped a beat betraying her real feelings. She couldn’t even fool herself._

**_“Since you are being a lazy fox and refuses to move, I brought you that awful coffee you like so much.”_ ** _Kang approached leaving a paper cup beside the girl and taking a sit on the spare chair beside Minky. She shook her head slightly to get her brown hair out of her face, revealing red cheeks due to the cold._

 **_“How long were you out there?”_ ** _Minkyung asked, unconsciously lifting a hand to touch her cheek._

_Kang leaned against her palm, her eyes looking incredible soft albeit she still  had a playful grin on her lips. **“Worried now, traitor? Should’ve come with me then!”**_

_The taller brunette scoffed at her best friend’s words. She tried to pull her hand back, but Kyungwon’s warm hand was over hers, holding onto it gently – how come it was still so warm even when she had just come from a snowball war? She avoided her gaze, looking for a quirk comeback to give, but she didn’t have the chance to do so._

**_“Minky, is everything fine? This all is not due until next week, but you decide to take the whole day to do it? Isn’t it a bit too much even for you?”_ ** _There was no more playfulness in her tone, demanding Minkyung’s attention. She squeezed her hand a little, her fingers gentle against her skin. “ **I’m not that smart but I can try to help you if you are having trouble with anything.”**_

_With a small sigh, she forced herself to face Kyungwon’s beautiful eyes that seem to reflect her feelings. **“Yeah, I just want to make sure I’ve everything under control.”** She said with a resolute nod that should’ve been enough to convince the other girl, but clearly wasn’t. _

_Instead of letting her go, Kyungwon leaned in closer – a bit too close to comfort. Kim had to resist the urge of backing off and giving away her feelings. **“You are avoiding me.”** The blunt statement took her by surprise, and this time she flinched, pulling her hand out of Kyungwon’s grip. **“So you are indeed.”** Kang sighed, a hurt and frustrated look on her face._

**_“I’m not. I just…”_ ** _She had to refrain from grimacing. Lying to her best friend wasn’t something she liked to do, however how could she be completely honest without putting them in an even more unpleasant situation? **“We’re too old for this kind of stuff and I should prioritize my studies.“**_

_Kyungwon stared back at her for a moment, as if she was evaluating what to do next. Taking a deep breath, she spoke:_

**_“I love to be around you, to talk to you and to hold your hand. I love your personality, even when you are being sneaky like now and trying to put on an act...”_ ** _Kyungwon said in a quiet tone. She spoke fast, but very clearly, as if she had memorized this speech for a long time. **“I love you and I know you feel the same. So don’t try to shut me out.”** The girl gave her a stern look, before continuing in a much softer tone. **“You always get all worked up around my birthday, but this time is taking you too long to go back to normal.”**_

 **_“So you knew about it.”_ ** _There was no point in denying. It was embarrassing how transparent she was to the other, albeit hearing such words from Kyungwon was enough to make her feel more at ease. **“I’m sorry. I’m just so over my head with it. We are the only ones without a mark, why couldn’t we just…Is it wrong for me to wish we could just have it?”**_

_This time made sure to display her best smile, letting out a soft chuckle. **“Marks are overrated. I prefer honest feelings instead.”** Cupping Minky’s face on her hand she slowly came closer, giving the girl space to back away if she wanted, and placing a gentle kiss on her lips. **“Can you feel it?”**_

_Minky blinked, stunned. The contact was brief, but Kyungwon’s soft lips against hers was enough to make her heart jumped happily on her chest, dancing with the butterflies that filled her chest. She was used to overly long hugs and holding hands, even with small kisses on the cheek, but with this kiss they had entered a new territory. **“No...”** She muttered, noticing a glimpse of hurt light up Kyungwon’s eyes for a second before she moved closer to hug her by neck. **“Not enough.”** It was her time to kiss the girl, her clumsy lips searching for her with as much affection as rush. Maybe like this she could leave her own mark on Kyungwon, one not made by fate, but by her own love._

 

Back then it had taken her courage to take the next step, although Kyungwon had as usual take the lead and allow her to feel brave as well.  This time she should be the one giving the first step to protect their relationship. It wasn’t as simple as when they were in college, now there was another person in the equation and she couldn’t simply ignore Yaebin’s well being.

Minkyung would try her best for them, and hopefully it would be enough.

Suddenly she wished the weekend to go by faster. Kyungwon needed to come home soon and she needed to pay a visit to the eerie bookstore filled with blank books.

 

 

* * *

 

It was late, but Kyungwon was still up, staring at the white ceiling of her room. In the end she hadn’t told her parents anything. She didn’t want to see their sad expressions and pity in their eyes. Hiding things wasn’t the best way of solving them, however she didn’t want people to tell her to give up and she was afraid her parents would tell her to do so – not for bad, they would just want what was the best for her, even if it meant go back to live with them with a broken heart. She still hadn’t figure out what she was supposed to do, but part of her refused to simply accept defeat.

Just a couple of months before she had everything figured out. She had plans for her work and personal life, she had Minkyung beside her and she was undeniably happy. Now she was on the verge of losing her girlfriend and work was becoming her copying mechanism.

Time was running out and she had to make some important decisions.

Sitting up, careful to not disturb Kongie’s peaceful dreams, she reached out for her cellphone at the nightstand. Just a couple of touches on the screen later connect her with Sungyeon’s phone – the girl was always up, she doubt she would mind her late night call.

 ** _“Kang, hello. I received the material, is there anything you want to change? We only have two days left.”_** Sungyeon’s voice sounded as nonchalant as ever, not even a hint of tiredness in it.

 **“Hey, Sungyeon. I’m sorry for calling so late.”** Her voice was husky as she spoke and she pressed the device on her hand with a little more strength. **“And no, there’s not wrong with the chapter. I reviewed it with Siyeon yesterday and I did it again before sending it in.”** Actually she had lost count of the times she reread every line, checked every drawing, verified if they had made no mistakes regarding the plot…Working was the one thing she still had control over and she was putting her all into it.

 ** _“Then why the sudden call?”_** Bae was always straight forward, but there was a hint of something else in her voice. Concern perhaps? The brown haired woman almost sighed. All she did lately was to worry everyone around her.

No, she was putting an ending on it today.

She would take matters into her own hands and hope for the best, it was only fair to give herself a fair chance. She had so many good moments with Minkyung, they had gone through so much together and still came out stronger. They could do it again if she tried, couldn’t they?

 **“The story,”** The one short story she had put so much effort and love into. The one thing she had planned for so long. **“The one I asked you to insert at the ending of the physical volume…Make sure to put it as big as you can. Do you think you can get me a copy before official release?”**

 ** _“So you don’t want to delete it?”_** Sungyeon’s voice was surprised, but sounded almost proud. It made Kyungwon smile. **_“Looks like you are onto something, aren’t you?”_**

She nodded, even though Bae couldn’t see her. A wave of confidence washing over all her insecurities even for only a moment. **“We could say so. Can you do it for me?”**

Sungyeon chuckled lightly, a rare thing for the woman to do. **_“Of course. You can have a copy by Tuesday, just stop by office and get it.”_**

 **“Thank, Sungyeon. You are the best editor out there, you know that?”** She said in a light tone, feeling much better now that she had taken that important step. Standing up for herself, and even being a little egoistic as well, weren’t bad things and she shouldn’t feel bad for doing so.

 ** _“Don’t make me change my mind, Kang.”_** Kyungwon could almost see the younger woman rolling her eyes at her compliments. **_“Kyungwon? I’m glad you decided to keep it. I’ve a good feeling about, a really good one.”_**

The brown haired woman’s smile grew into an optimistic grin. **“Me too, Sungyeon. Thank you again.”**

Like this the call was over and the young artist put her phone aside, laying down on the bed again. While she couldn’t possibly predict Minky’s reaction, just for once she wanted to think positive.

Back in Seoul, a goddess who knew about it all and was feeling as optimistic as her protégée, made sure to start preparing everything Kyungwon had asked. They might not have Love at their side, but they might not need her if Kyungwon and Minkyung did the right choices.

 

 

* * *

* * *

#  **_Saturday_ **

**Yaebin squinted her eyes,** completely focused on the important task ahead. She could feel the pressure on her growing as she looked from one fluff ball of fur colored orange to the other one, a white one this time. How was she supposed to choose?

Minkyung beside her, had to lean in, resting her hands on her knees to take a look inside the cage. **“They are cute.”** She said with her soft tone, one slender finger adventuring itself inside the cage through the bars to touch the soft fur of the closest kitten. She smiled as she watch the small cat purr, and glanced over to see her soulmate doing the same to the other animal. Yaebin looked adorable with a small smile on her face as she caressed the kitten, she looked relaxed and tense all at once.

Minky let out a light chuckle, leaving the cat to touch the dark haired woman’s face affectionately, her fingers undoing the frown on her forehead. She was getting more used to touching and comforting Yaebin, she was glad their awkward phase was gone. **“I know it’s hard to pick only one, but it’s been half an hour already.”** Subtly she pointed the cat shelter worker that was at the door looking a bit impatient. **“If you can’t pick one now, we can just go back another time after you have made your mind.”**

The younger woman glanced over Kim’s shoulder, noticing the worker and made a face. She had no idea it’s been so long since they had come inside to look at the cats up for adoption, although her heavy heart from staring so much at the little creatures should’ve been a sign of it. Kang knew it would be like this once she got to see the animals, after all she had think long before deciding to come get a pet of her own. Still, thinking about it didn’t prepare her for the heart ache of having to choose.

She had taken the day off, although Saturday was quite a busy day at the store, to come to the shelter. It was a pleasant surprise when the brunette offered to go with her. Having Minkyung with her was a good thing, the brunette didn’t say much, allowing her to take her time and make her own choices, giving her silent support.

She straighten her back, reaching out to squeeze her hand gently, giving her an apologetic look. **“I had lost track of time. Just give me a minute.”** She said only loud enough for Minky to hear and receiving a smile and a nod in return.

The orange kitten had caught her attention right away, making her remember another orange fluff ball she had met so many years ago. Lulu, Kyulkyung’s cat, wasn’t just a small fragile baby, it was a big – and fat – grown cat. She smiled remembering the first time she saw him and deciding she should take the orange kitten with her.

 

_Sitting at one of tables right outside of the school’s cafeteria, Yaebin jumped on her seat when a flustered Eunwoo sat by her side in a rush, not so subtly hiding behind Kang’s small frame._

**_“What in the world, Jung Nunu?!”_ ** _Yaebin almost choked on her food, eyes darting to meet her friend’s gaze. They had known each other for a couple of months now, living at the same dorm on campus and having a bunch of classes in common was only normal to get close. Eunwoo’s bright and funny personality attracted the shorter girl right away and they bonded just fine usually, however, sometimes Nunu weird ways were a bit too much even for her best friend._

 **_“Shiu! Just pretend you are eating your lunch like nothing happened, I’m trying to be low key right now.”_ ** _If there was something Eunwoo wasn’t, it was ‘low key’, and in that moment it couldn’t be different. The girl had her face bright red, thanks to the little exercise she just made – there was nothing she hated more than being forced to move around, no surprise she was the epitome of sedentary now. The girl was holding something, barely hiding it under her hoodie Yaebin was pretty sure it couldn’t possibly be something good._

_When the thing started **mewing** one minute later, just in time for Eunwoo’s signature sneeze, she changed her mind. It was definitely something good._

_Yaebin covered her mouth, trying to hide a laugh. Eunwoo really had a talent to get herself into trouble._

**_“How did you even get him…Her? Do you even know what it is?”_ ** _She asked as soon as she made sure no one was paying them attention. A small fluff being was peeking through Eunwoo’s collar, its cute orange head rubbing against the girl’s neck. The blonde hugged the cat a bit tighter, making sure it wouldn’t run away._

_Luckily for them, the teachers weren’t very fond of the campus cafeteria._

**_“I don’t know! It’s just Lulu! Is Lulu a boy or girl name?”_ ** _Eunwoo replied, whispering shouting as she frantically looked around. **“She just left me with it and run away.”**_

 **_“She?”_ ** _Yaebin rose her brows, curiosity shinning in her dark eyes._

 **_“The crazy cat girl!”_ ** _Eunwoo muttered grimacing, although Yaebin could tell she wasn’t really mad at the girl – after all you don’t simply look after someone else’s pet if you hate them. Especially someone like Eunwoo._

 **_“But you are allergic to cats.”_ ** _She pointed out calmly, her food long forgotten as she focused all her attention on the weird, yet adorable, duo seated beside her – the cat under Eunwoo’s hoodie made sure to mew once more, not wanting to be ignored by the girls._

 **_“I know!”_ ** _Now the girl seemed clearly distressed – her ten minutes as a cat mom have been quite rough on her. **“I told her, and you know what she told me?”**_

 **_“What?”_ ** _Yaebin leaned on her elbows, watching the slightly older girl with interest. However, Eunwoo didn’t get the chance of answering._

 **_“I told her my soulmate should be able to look after Lulu, since we will be family and all.”_ ** _A new, sweet and clear voice, said as its owner took a seat across the girls at the table. The girl, a foreigner exchange student who was in Yaebin’s sociology class, glanced at her own hand before continuing. **“Thank you for looking after him, Eunwoo. The inspector is kind of keeping an eye on me now, you know, dorm rules and stuff…”** The raven haired woman shrugged, the relaxed smile on her face didn’t wave not even slightly, showing her disregard for said rules. Kang didn’t know much about that girl – Kyulkyung was it her Korean name? – but all she could recall was that the classmate was an overly energetic, bright and easy going person considering how everyone seem to like her automatically. _

_She raised her eyebrows, looking from one girl to another. Yeah, these two being soulmates made perfect sense._

**_“Look here, Ju Kyulkyung, you can’t simply leave him with me whenever it pleases you!”_ ** _Nunu returned with a huff, however she was still holding the cat with excessive care._

_Lulu mewed, aware of his owner presence and the dark haired girl stood up to take him out of Eunwoo’s hoodie with surprisingly skilled movements – Yaebin wondered how often she hid the cat under people’s clothes._

**_“Don’t worry, I will give you a heads up before dropping him off at your place, okay?”_ ** _Kyul hugged the cat affectionately, kissing his head before giving Jung her best smile – and it was surely effective._

_Eunwoo blinked twice, a light shade of pink coloring her cheeks. **“You better!”**_

**_“Oh! I should get going, I have to take him home before class. See you around, soulmate! And you too, soulmate’s friend!”_ ** _She waved energetically, leaning in to kiss Eunwoo’s cheek loudly before leaving with quick steps._

_The scene was too hilarious for Yaebin keep her composure and she couldn’t help but laugh at Nunu’s red face – the girl had her hand over her own cheek, her expression a mix of shock and glee._

**_“She sees me twice a week in class and I’m still only ‘soulmate’s friend’?”_ ** _Yaebin shook her head, amused by the girl’s quirk personality._

 **_“Is it normal for your soulmate to simply leave her cat with you on your first meeting?”_ ** _Eunwoo asked, sneezing as she tried her best to get rid of the cat fur on her clothes._

 **_“Honestly? It fits just right with what I would expect from your soulmate.”_ ** _Everyone always dreams about their fated meeting with their soulmate, and Eunwoo’s couldn’t happen in a more unique and so fitting to her._

 **_“Ei! What is this supposed to mean?”_ ** _Jung finally let go of her cheek, nudging Yaebin’s arm lightly what just made the shorter laugh._

 **_“I’m just happy for you. You deserve a nice and pretty girl like that.”_ ** _It was true. Even if she couldn’t find her soulmate, she was glad her friend was able to do so._

 **_“She is a weirdo though.”_ ** _Nunu said, a smile gracing her face as she hugged Yaebin by the waist, resting her head on her shoulder. **“You’ll have your turn soon, Yaebs. And I bet she won’t even be a crazy cat lady.”**_

 **_“I hope so.”_ ** _Yaebin rested her head on Nunu’s. **“But until then we should get you some antihisminics, I have a feeling you will need a lot of it.”**_

 

 **“I’ll be taking the little orange one.”** She said, this time louder enough for the shelter worker hear her. **“…And the white one as well!”** The young nodded in approval, approaching to check on the animals before proceeding with the paper work.

Minkyung gave her a warm smile. **“Good thing I came then. I’ll help you take them home.”** Yaebin smiled as well, containing her childish excitement at the idea of taking both adorable creatures home in the company of another equally adorable – but much bigger – creature. She hugged Minky briefly, letting out a small giggle. **“I’ll need help to buy everything for them as well.”**

Two kittens would probably be a lot of work, but Yaebin felt she was making the right decision. Kyul would have approved it.

That day when she bid farewell to Minkyung after the woman helped her shop for pet products, she called Eunwoo to come and meet the new members of her family. The girl would probably go crazy over the kittens, and also have a sneeze fit – she would make sure to her meds close by just in case.

 

 

* * *

 

It was late, even late for her current standards. So she tiptoed, leaving her stuff on the studio and taking a moment to consider the idea of sleeping there, but her tired body demanded her to go and find her comfortable bed. The lights were off in the room, as expected, but she was still able to guide herself only with the dim light of the moon coming through the window. Grabbing some comfy clothes, she went to the bathroom for a quick shower that hopefully wouldn’t be able to interrupt Minkyung’s calm sleep – she had tried her best to not pay attention to the girl, but it was impossible to not notice the gentle fragrance of her hair in the air or the lump under the thick blanket on the bed.

Kyungwon changed into her clean clothes, turning off the bathroom lights before exiting and proceeding to approach her side of the bed, climbing carefully to not disturb her girlfriend. Before all the marks thing happened, she would have been careful simply because she didn’t want to wake Minkyung up knowing she needed her sleep after a long week of work, now, however, her excessive care was due the fear of waking up the girl just to face that horrible tension that always filled the air lately.

It wasn’t like her to stay out until so late, not even for work, she would always try to come home in time to see Minky and talk to her properly. Although it wasn’t like this anymore. It was cowardly of her to keep hiding and pretending to be busier than she really was just to avoid meeting the one person that meant so much for her – it was ironic, really, that her fear of losing Minkyung was keeping her away of the girl. Far from sight, far from the heart? A joke. Her heart ached all day, missing her so much and wishing. She was wanted to see, touch and keep Minky as close as possible.

Just for once, she wanted to lay beside her girl and pretend everything was fine.

Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, allowing her to discern Kim’s beautiful features from the pile of fluff blankets she was wrapped on. Kyungwon mirrored her pose, laying her head on the pillow and watching as the slightly older girl slept peacefully. In the quietness of the room, with only their breaths filling the air, for once everything seem okay and she could allow herself to smile.

Hesitantly, she reached out to touch ever so slightly the brunette’s cheek, her fingers barely making contact with the warm skin. **“I missed you, Minky.”** It was only a whisper, charged with fondness and longing as she slowly retracted her hand. However, the said hand was kept in place as the other woman took hold of it.

Minkyung’s beautiful brown orbits faced her, with an expression that she couldn’t quite understand. Kang’s dark chocolate ones stared back at her, her breath caught on her throat. She was afraid of saying anything, even more afraid of thinking that the Kim had heard her words just now, what made no sense. But still, she couldn’t force herself to take action, afraid it would break this little moment they were having even if she wasn’t entirely sure it was a good one.

The taller woman took the decision out of her hands by bringing her closer, eyes still on hers as if was expecting something.

Kyungwon wished she could read Minkyung’s mind, moreover, she wished she could understand her feelings to know what she should be doing. It was becoming harder and harder to put her own feelings in second place. Gathering the remaining courage she still had somehow, Kang pulled the girl into a tight embrace, closing her eyes as she allowed herself to fully enjoy the contact.

 **“I miss you.”** She repeated, leaving her fears aside for a moment. **“So much.”** Her voice sounded fragile, weak like thin glass, reflecting how her heart felt right now.

Minkyung wrapped her arms around Kyungwon, a relieved sigh escaping her. They might not be connected through soul marks, nor be each other’s soul mate, but when they were together like this and it was enough for her to feel her heart growing stronger and warmer, she couldn’t label it as anything less the magical.   **“I missed you too.”** Nuzzling into Kang’s neck and breathing her favorite scent, the pansy fragrance that seem so intrinsic to Kyungwon, she felt herself slowly relaxing back to the sleepy state.

 **“Don’t avoid me, my love. Please.”** She said pressing a soft kiss on the younger woman’s skin.

The brown haired girl tensed for a second, her conflicted mind struggling to accept such a simple statement. _My love?_ Minkyung didn’t call her like this very often, and she probably could count the times the older woman referred to her in that way. Perhaps, that’s why it sounded so sincere – Kim wouldn’t have said it if she didn’t mean it. But only gods knew how much she needed these words now, and she holding onto them just like she was clinging to the girl. **“I won’t, Minky.”** Her selflessness had reached its limit, giving space to her selfish side to take over and demand for her to do something like she wished she had done from the very beginning. **“I was wrong, we should go through this together.”**

 **“We will. We always do.”** Kim smiled, snuggling even closer to her girlfriend.

Although she was almost falling sleep, her mind seem clearer than ever before. Her choice was clear from the start and nothing would change it. Yaebin was someone good, someone that in any other time she could’ve loved, but she already had Kyungwon in her life and everyone else faded in comparison. Maybe they couldn’t have the perfect, ideal soulmate life, yet she wouldn’t trade their simple life together for it. They had their own type of happiness, one that wasn’t found right away, but that came from their efforts in making each other’s life a little better everyday, from the little joys they found by simply being together. 

Kim didn’t put her thoughts in words, not just yet. She would have many things to sort out on Monday, but first she wanted to drown into Kyungwon’s embrace and be surrounded but nothing more than her love and care.

 

 

* * *

* * *

#  **_Monday_ **

 

Sunday went by like a blur for Minkyung. Kyungwon was back home and to her old self, what means they just had a lazy Sunday together in the couch with old movies and a lot of food. It wasn’t exactly how it used to be, but it was nice and she tried her best to enjoy every single moment of their day.

She had skipped her usual meeting with Yaebin, letting her know they needed to talk soon– she felt guilty to treat it almost like it was a business situation, but she couldn’t see a better solution than go straight to the point and tell her decision to Yaebin directly tomorrow. It was only fair for her to be honest to her.  

 Still, Minky had spent the whole day wishing for Monday to come sooner. Her mind insisted on going back to the mysterious bookstore she had visited once, her instinct telling her she should go back there – and no matter how dumb it sounded, she was tempted to do so.

Minkyung got off work earlier on Monday to tryone last time to meet the owner of the Im’s Manuscripts, the creepy place that was closed every time she tried to visit before. Her most rational part told her that she should just forget about that weird place, that Nayoung must be just another nut job that lives off conspiracy theories and her grandma’s retirement money. However, she didn’t have many options regarding the whole soulmate matter, whether she liked it or not, the place was the only one where she could find detailed books on soulmates and if she could have a chance of taking a look at them even if only for a little while, it was worth the try.

This time when she stopped by the bookstore, she found the door wide open, as if it was waiting for her. Raising her eyebrows, feeling a bit uneasy of adventuring inside the dusty room once more, she took careful steps. Just like the first time, the place didn’t have a single customer, the books were still messily located everywhere and the illumination was barely enough for her to read anything at all.

Although there was a pretty blatant difference now, and it took form in the tall brunette that looked at her with a expression that was so stoic that automatically made Minky feel uncomfortable. For a while they just stared at each other, until the younger woman couldn’t stand anymore the silent and spoke.

 **“Hi. I’m Kim Minkyung.”** She bowed politely, not daring to approach the woman **. “I believe you emailed me a couple of days ago? You are Nayoung, right?”**

 **“I suppose someone did.”** Her tone didn’t have any inflection, it was as flat as her expression, albeit she took a few steps closer to the Kim. **“Im Nayoung.”** A short, mechanic bow followed.

Minky switched the weight from her body from a foot to another, uncomfortable with the way that Nayoung still kept her sleepy eyes on her. She actually wanted to go and grab one of the books, or maybe a dozen of them, all the it took to find something useful. But she was having a hard time acting under such gaze.

 **“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to sound er…Rude, but you don’t have any new books here. The company for which I work doesn’t deal with antiques.”** She looked around, checking once more if there was even a signal of a book that had been realized in the past century at least. Nothing.

 **“We don’t have this kind of book in here.”** Was all Im said. She didn’t seem very talkative.

Minkyung had to refrain from sighing, deciding to put her work etiquette aside.

**“What is this place even? This is not a bookstore, is it?”**

**“It’s a library. We only open for _special_ occasions.”**

Special occasions? As if the place didn’t look appropriated for a horror movie already the owner had to add her own gloomy words to its atmosphere.

Enough with the enigmatic talk.

 **“Then why did you sent me the email? Why was your name on our lists even? A normal library wouldn’t have a bunch of blank books.”** She pointed out the said books, expecting to get a reaction out of the woman with that.

Nayoung had prepared herself for this type of conservation for a long while. **“Only people who need it can find their way to here. And even if they do, they can only read the book that can help them.”**

 **“Need what?”** The human frowned, the uneasiness slowly spreading through her body.

For the first time that evening Nayoung showed some emotion – even if it was in the form of a slightly annoyed sigh. **“I thought you would have figured out by now.”**

 **“The soulmate…?”** Minkyung tried, the words sounds weird to her own ears. Thinking about finding a solution and actually getting ‘help’ without even asking for it were two very different things. She still didn’t know if she could trust Nayoung, she didn’t even knew what exactly she had got herself into.

 **“Go ahead. You know the right book, don’t you?”** Im gestured one of the shelves, waiting for Minkyung to follow her instructions.

After a moment of hesitation, she did as she was told. _You don’t have anything to lose_ , she muttered to herself trying to brave up. There were so many books in there, small and big ones, all so old that she could bet even the mold on it was older than her. Still, she was drawn by a certain book, its red cover dotted by dust – the same book she had read before, the only one she was able to. Just like the other time, she couldn’t help the urge to reach out and grab it, opening it with motions that were more rushed than graceful. Her finger slid through the pages, looking for the point she had stopped by the last time.

It was easy to find it, the book seem to have its own life as it showed her a page with beautiful gravures of different types of marks, something about it made her feel at ease. Her eyes travelled through the page, capturing every single word as her brain analyzed it with great care. The text talk about how the marks worked, referring to it as an ‘way to reach the right path’. The language was complex, but still she could understand it. For a while, she completely forgot about Nayoung’s presence, focused on the book’s content.

Finally she reached a part that made her stop right away. **“Soul marks shall not manipulate, nor affect one’s free will. It shall not profane the purity of true love, but enhance it by connect two souls who share the same thread.”** She read again, this time out loud.

 **“You can still read it. I see.”** Im commented in a quiet voice, nodding slowly. Destiny and her annoying assistant would be ecstatic with the news. She would only have double the work now – albeit deep down she was glad she did, after all she also got her own chance of making up for her mistakes. **“Soul marks can’t create love, only you can do it.”** She gave the human a small, almost nonexistent smile.

Minky looked from the book to the woman, torn about what to do next. How could such simple words such be capable of fill her up with hope and relief? The mark was only one of the things that make a soulmate, everything else were things that she already had in her life long before – things that she wanted to keep forever.

Maybe it was foolish, maybe Nayoung and those old books were just a scam, but still it gave her strength to own up to her feelings. She was so caught up with the whole soulmate mark thing, afraid about it could affect her and how it could change it all, that she had forgotten the most important: her own wishes and actions were the only thing that dictated her life. And she already had made her choice long time ago.

 **“Thank you for letting me read it. I’ll make good use of its words.”** She closed the book, handing it to the other woman.

Nayoung nodded, although she didn’t make a move to accept the book, instead keeping her arms crossed as her gaze was fixed on the younger woman’s brown orbs. **“Are you sure now?”** She asked, her words sounding more like a statement than a question.

Minkyung had no idea of how she could possibly know about her personal matters – Nayoung, just like that place seem to have her own ways of working. It was Kim’s turn to nod emphatically. **“Yes.”** She wouldn’t go back on this decision. Her unsureness had already hurt too many people and it was about time for her to make things right. **“I just got confused for a moment, but not anymore.”**

The library gently pushed the book back to Minkyung’s hands. **“Then it’s done.”** She said in a solemn tone, giving Minky a final glance. **“You can keep it. I’m sorry for taking so long. I wish you a happy future.”** The brunette bowed politely before turning on her heels and walking towards the back of the store, leaving Minkyung behind.

 **“Thank you.”** The girl repeated, hugging the book to her chest and giving the place one last look. She rushed out, her quick steps turning into jogging as the adrenaline filled her veins. She needed to see someone.

 

 

* * *

 

Yaebin was greeted by Minkyung’s dazzling smile as soon as she stepped outside the store. **“Come with me, I have a place to show you.”** She said with a resolute smile. It wasn’t how their meeting usually went, but she didn’t protest, only following the girl as they walked side by side. Minky asked about her day and offered to get them coffee at her favorite place. **“I still own you a coffee if I remember well.”** She had said, the line sounding a bit mechanic. Yaebin could feel something in the air, a _déjà vu_ like feeling, yet how could she reject such offer? So she just shrugged, taking a sip of her drink and following as they walked toward one of the quiet places a couple of blocks away from her apartment.

They stopped walking taking a place by the fence, hot coffee on their hands as their eyes watched the movement of the city bellow them. It was a beautiful view, Seoul seem small and full of light from up there, almost like a dream like scenario. Minkyung could’ve smiled at the view, but she didn’t, her mind focused in something else. Kang must’ve noticed it, because she didn’t say anything either, only enjoying the calm breeze as she learned on the fence.

**“Yaebin I...I really like you. In these couple of weeks we spent together I could understand why I, or anyone else, should consider a huge luck to have you as soulmate. I mean, you are pretty, and smart, and funny and warm…And even understanding...You are really easy to love.”**

Yaebin lips curved in a small smile, tilting her head slightly to face the taller woman. **“But?”**

Minkyung took a deep breath, keeping her eyes on the girl's **.** They knew right from the start something like this would happen, she should’ve prepared better for this moment. **“But I don't love you. Not like I love Kyungwon at least.”** She pursed her lips, giving the younger woman an apologetic look. Being sincere was the best thing she could do for both of them. **“Maybe in another time…Another way…But now I can only love you as a good friend. Like someone I want to have in my life and be there for her whenever. But I can't love you like a soulmate is supposed to.”**

Contrary to all things Kim had imagined for this moment, the young Kang chuckled lightly, giving her a gentle pat in the arm. **“I know. I've known for a while now.”** Yaebin could be anything, but a fool she was not. Having Minky around was nice, it sometimes even made her wonder how it would be if they were really together and wish it was true, however she always knew it was just wishful thinking. The small period of time they spent together was enough for her to learn a lot about the other girl, and it included how to read the feelings that her eyes couldn’t conceal.

 **“You try so hard to not talk about her, but you can't help linking her to almost every subject. You told me that your favorite scent is pansy, the same flower you said she smells like. Whenever we go out you always buy something to take home because you get worried she hasn't eaten. You never pay attention to your phone, except if it is from her, then you don't hesitate to get it and you get anxious if you don’t...”** The small Kang enumerated, her voice sounding almost robotic, like she had memorized these words long ago. **“You might be with me, but your mind and your heart are always with her.”**

Her smile grew a little sadder. She had waited for so long to meet her soulmate, nearly giving up, just to find and lose her in a matter of weeks. It wasn’t like she had picture her life to be. **“I wish I could have something like this. I'm glad at least one of us can have it.”**

Kim’s heart clenched inside her chest, the sharp pain of guilty and impotence still tormenting her. Kyungwon and Yaebin weren’t objects that she could easily play pick and choose, discarding them to her pleasing. Still, she was forced to pick one of them and she had to be honest with herself – she just wishes she could do it without hurting anyone. **“I'm sorry. I really am.”**

 **“Don't apologize.”** The shorter brunette shook her head, raising her hand to refrain Minkyung of arguing. She wanted a clear ending, a closure. **“Just go and fix things with her now. Our date would end early anyway, I’m planning on seeing Eunwoo today.”**

 **“Really?”** Minkyung frowned slightly, her fox like eyes inspecting Yaebin’s ace as if like this she could see through her. And perhaps she could. **“Are you sure you don't want to talk it through?”**

Kang only nodded, seeming rather calm about it all. She had lived her whole life without a soulmate, she could do it again. **“We will have a lot of time to do it another day.”**

Minkyung seem torn, hesitating for a moment before pulling her into a tight hug. A hug that smelled like Jasmine and coffee. Yaebin closed her eyes, nuzzling into the girl’s neck one last time, making sure to mark in her mind every detail of this moment. She couldn’t say she it didn’t hurt to lose the chance of having her own perfect happy ending with her soulmate, but she could feel it was the right thing to do and it made her heart a little lighter.

 **“I’ll walk you back to the store then.”** Minky suggested, backing away slowly to give her a small smile tainted by the tears that she had a hard time containing. She reached out to dry Yaebin’s own tears, the ones the girl hadn’t even realized she had shed. **“And I will stop by your place all the time. I meant it, I still want to have you in my life.”** Her tone was filled with a sincerity she could only hope was able to reach the other girl. It was unfortunate that they met under such bad conditions, but she didn’t regret meeting Yaebin or being around her. She had grown to like and respect the younger girl, not having Yaebin in her life just didn’t seem to make sense. Of course she wasn’t naïve, things would take time to adjust, yet it would be worth it.

So she hold onto tight to Kang’s small hand, leading the way back. Yaebin didn’t say much, only returning the grip with a gentle squeeze.

For a while there was only silence, yet it wasn’t tense, slowly becoming more comfortable as they walked hand in hand to the bus stop, boarding the vehicle and taking a sit at the very back. Yaebin naturally leaned on Minkyung’s shoulder – she had a cute clingy side to her that only with time was revealed, and Kim was glad she still felt comfortable to act like this around her.

 **“Minkyung? Bring the other Kang over sometime. I don't think losing a soulmate is that bad if I can gain two friends instead.”** Yaebin’s voice was small, but the little smile on her face and the gentle glow in her eyes showed sincerity.

The older woman returned the smile, nodding. **“I’ll. I have a feeling you two will get along just fine.”**

 

 

* * *

 

Minkyung punched the password on the door lock, impatiently entering her home **. “Kang Kyungwon!”** She called, turning on the lights of the room. The house remained silent, no signal of her loud girlfriend anywhere. Moved for the urge of seeing her, she kept moving, reaching the girl’s office just to find it locked and most likely empty since no one answered her knocks at the door. Their room was the last place she checked, leaving a heavy sigh as she confirmed Kyungwon was nowhere in the house.

She just wanted to see her girl and tell her everything about the mark, tell her that they could still be together, not only because the soulmate mark wasn’t as powerful as they thought, moreover because she choose to do so. Taking the book out of her bag, she left it on her nightstand and got a hold of her phone, sending Kyungwon a message asking her to come home as soon as possible – the message was received, but not read even after five minutes. Looked like she had used all her luck earlier and would have to be patient this time.

Therefore, she decided to go ahead and take a shower, hopefully in the mean time Kang would arrive home.

Kyungwon, who had previously been in an unofficial meeting with Sungyeon and Siyeon, planning on a new story short story that could be published in a single digital volume and later released as a physical book, arrived around fifteen minutes after Minkyung sent her that message. Usually that type of text would make her a bit anxious that something bad had happened, however Minky’s unusual use of emojis was a signal that everything was okay. She had replied as soon as she was out of the Sungyeon’s office, making her way back home. Driving had never been a thing she was fond of, but she was definitely getting them a car if it meant she wouldn’t have to use her long legs to sprint home every time Minky texted her.

 **“I’m home!”** The lights were on when she arrived, her eyes darting through the living room in the search of her girlfriend. Kim wasn’t there, but she still could see the faint light coming from the corridor that lead to their room, and she promptly walked towards the room. **“Minky?”** Instead of the woman, she only found her bag on top of the bed, and the sound of water running in the bathroom.

Kyungwon smiled, siting on the bed. She let out a small yawn, they would sure take a break from work as soon as they could. She loved working on her webtoon, but she loved even more some good sleep and cuddle with her girlfriend. Blinking her eyes, her gaze wandering through the room until it landed on Minky’s nightstand where an oddly old looking book was placed. She reached out to grab it, taking a look at the cover that didn’t seem to have anything written. The brown haired woman frowned slightly, puzzled by the book. It felt a bit too heavy on her hands, its velvet like cover didn’t give any hints of what it could be. Was it something related to Minky’s work? As far as she knew, dealing with antique items wasn’t part of her job. She bite down on her bottom lip, unsure if she should try to give it a better look or just leave it aside. It wasn’t like her to snoop around Minkyung’s stuff, but it wasn’t like the other had tried to hide the book, besides it was just a _book_ , right? Minky’s work was to make people read this kind of stuff, not the opposite.

Shrugging her shoulders, she decided to carefully open the book to check if she could at least get the title of it. Although, in the moment she opened it, she couldn’t help but deep her frown.

Minkyung heard the sound of familiar footsteps when she turned off the shower, and quickly changed into her comfy pajamas,  leaving the bathroom to find her girlfriend staring at the book Nayoung gave her earlier. **“Oh, you found it! I really wanted you to see it.”** Combing her fingers through her hair to try and fix it, she approached Kang taking a seat by her side. She tried to take a look at what the girl was reading, but Kyungwon closed the book before she could.

 **“Hey you!”** Kyungwon greeted her with a peck on the lips and a warm smile that was only for her. Minky was tempted to pull her in for another kiss, although the other cut her off before she could do anything. **“Your company is working with diaries now? Like that one book that tells you to write things and burn the pages after or something?”** Her tone was genuinely curious.

Now it was Minkyung’s turn to furrow her brow in confusion. **“What do you mean? No, this is not one our books. Haven’t you tried to read it?”**

 **“Well, _try_ is the word. There is nothing here!”** The artist said, her fingers tapping the cover of the book that had refused to show her even a single line. Honestly, Kyungwon thought it was a huge waste of paper

A chill ran through Minkyung’s spine **. “It’s not possible. I can read it, so you are supposed to be able to do it as well.”** A bit too fast, she reached out to open the book in a random page. **“Here, look! Can you see that? You _need_ to!”**

Kang looked at the book and then at her girlfriend who kept her gaze fixed on her face. **“Minky, there’s nothing there. Is it written with those paints that only work with dark light or…”**

 **“No, no! I saw it early, you are not paying attention.”** Minkyung said, taking the book into her own hands to read it herself. But there was nothing.

The book was completely blank again.

Her eyes grew wider, as she turned the pages and didn’t find a single line written on it. Was Nayoung joking with her? Was this some kind of twisted prank? Her hands started shaking violently and she closed the book roughly, feeling her chest tighten.  She was so happy, and for what? Just an illusion.

 **“Kim Minkyung!”** Kyungwon’s voice sounded a bit too loud, as if she had been calling her for a while with no success – what was exactly what happened. The brown haired woman couldn’t possibly understand what was happening, but she hated to see her girl in such a state. She throw the book aside, getting closer to the woman. **“What is going on? The book was something important to your work? Whatever it is we can fix, don’t worry. I’m here.”** She reassured the brunette, her right hand taking a hold of Minky’s chin, gently lifting it up so she could face her. Lifting her left hand to fix Kim’s bangs like she always did, she stopped mid motion when the other gasped in surprise. **“Minky, you are scaring me. What happened?”**

Minkyung grabbed her hand, her grip a bit too tight as she bring the said hand closer to her face to check something that could only be yet another illusion. However, no matter how many times she blinked, the blue mark was still on Kyungwon’s palm. A cute sleepy fox, so very similar to Kang’s drawings. It had her name on it.

A quick glance at her own left hand showed a new blue mark in the place where her red one once was. Not a snowman, but a _smiling_ wolf instead. Kyungwon.

 **“Minkyung, what in the world…”** Her soulmate, the one she had choose to herself, said bewildered by her girlfriend’s behavior.

A spoken answer wasn’t necessary. Minkyung only lifted her hand, showing where the mark was at the same time she did the same to Kyungwon’s own hand, demanding the woman to face it.

Kyungwon blinked. Once, twice…Maybe ten times. Her mind having a hard time taking in the new information.

Kang was having a hard time breathing, overwhelmed by what was happening. It didn’t seem realistic that after so much time thinking her and Minkyung weren’t destined together and they would have to always fight destiny to protect their love, now so easily she received the greatest gift she could’ve asked for. **“How…?”** She touched both marks, making sure they were real, and felt the subtly warmth coming out of it. Maybe it was her mind playing tricks on her, but she could swear she could feel a new connection to Minkyung just by doing it. She had always felt like she didn’t have a soulmate, she never felt a magical pull towards anyone other than Minkyung and she always thought it was nothing but her wishful heart. Until now. **“Doesn’t matter.”** Shaking her head, she reached out to hug Minky, bringing her as close as possible. It didn’t matter how or why the marks where there, just they were and it meant that she wouldn’t ever have to worry about anyone, not even the gods above, trying to take her love away. **“I love you. I love you so, so much!”** And she probably could have repeated it another hundred times, if it wasn’t Minky’s soft yet demanding lips on hers.

Minkyung cupped Kyungwon’s face on her hands, lifting her face slightly to give her full access to her mouth as she deepened the kiss, the gentle pressure of their lips against each other not being enough to satisfy her need of contact now. Kyungwon still had her arms around her and only tighten her grip, bringing her so close that she could feel the uneven beats of her heart. Minky left out a pleased sigh, her lips curving into a smile as she felt the girl correspond the kiss with the same passion. Her hands moved, one firmly on the younger girl’s nape and other travelling through her soft brown hair. Kyungwon nibbled on her bottom lip, tongue swiping the place before slowly making its way to meet hers, promptly Minkyung to moan as the taste of chocolate filled her mouth – Minkyung’s favorite taste. They had  kissed so many times before, yet Kim had never felt so many things at once, and she knew it had to do with the mark – no, it didn’t affect her love, nor it create more, but to know they had such big evidence of their connection really took away any inhibitions or barriers that could exist between the two of them. It meant Kyungwon was hers and no one else’s, and the same was truth for the Kang, as she always felt. The unpleasant chill had turned into a pleasant tremble as her heart jumped happily into her chest, lifting a weight she didn’t even knew was on her shoulders and making her feel light and free – the real kind of freedom, the one that allowed her to pick her own destiny and to be with whom she really loved.

They broke the contact reluctantly, sharing small kisses until they had to separate completely to search for air.  Pansy scent filled Minkyung’s lungs, her favorite smell. Many of her favorite things were directly connect to Kyungwon, and while it seem a little foolish and childish, she didn’t mind it at all. She brushed her nose against the brunette’s, resting their foreheads together. **“I choose you. I’d always choose you.”** She had a lot to explain, a long story that would make very little sense now that they both couldn’t read the book anymore – she didn’t mind it all, if it was the price to have her new soul mark, she was more than pleased in paying it. **“Even if I didn’t have a mark on my hand, you were already marked on my heart where it really matters.”** She kissed Kyungwon again, unable to control her affection, although now she knew there was no need to rush since they had a lifetime together ahead of them.

 **“Good, because you were always the only option for me.”** Kyungwon smiled, so big that it reached her eyes, making them close into a cute eye smile that made her look so much younger and innocent. She hugged Minkyung, nuzzling her face into her neck, leaving sweet kisses there. Minky smelled like jasmine and her own personal scent, a combination so good that she would never get sick of it. Being in her arms was so comfortable, warm and safe that it would have been easy to fall asleep if she wasn’t afraid of waking up later to find out it was all a dream – if it was, she would stay as long as she could. Albeit, Minky’s hot breath by her ears felt too real to be anything other than it. Kim’s next words were enough to make her melt into the girl with the silliest grin.  **“I love you, too, my soulmate.”**

The slightly younger woman could’ve combusted out of happiness to hear these words on top of everything that was happening, but she refrained from attacking Minky’s lips once more, checking the mark on her hand instead. It was still there, giving out the weird, yet nice, feeling that it had always supposed to be there. Grinning, she caressed Minky’s back, a sudden burst of confidence telling her to not worry, that the mark would always be there just like her soulmate would be by her side. She kissed Kim’s pale neck, ready to go back from the point they had stopped, but then she pulled away soon after.

 **“Wait, the book! What was that about?”** The brunette was so distraught over it, that it had to be something important for her.

To her surprise, Minky laughed whole hearted. Grabbing the book that the other girl had throw at the far corner of the bed and placing it back on the nightstand. She would have to give it back to Nayoung eventually, maybe she should bring Kyungwon along when she did it – her scared cat girlfriend would hate the place, but it was okay since she would be there to guide her. **“It’s a long story, but for short: It would only tell you what we already know.”**

 **“And it is…?”** Kyungwon raised her brow, giving the book a suspicious look that Minkyung found adorable.

She decided tomorrow she would explain everything properly, but for now she just wanted to enjoy Kyungie’s presence and the little miracle they had received. **“That a mark can’t change how much I love you and you love me.”**

Kang wasn’t quite convinced that a random book filled with only blank pages could’ve anything to do with them. However, she couldn’t argue for two reasons: One, she was too happy and relieved to care whether; And two, Minkyung was back at her arms and was being pretty insistent in having her presence noticed. Kyungwon gasped when she felt lips on her sensitive ear, letting out a small giggle.

 **“You are right. I’m thankful for it anyway, if talking about it is enough to make you like this.”** She teased, giving her a playful, yet loving look before kissing her soulmate properly. They would have the rest of their lives to do it, but she didn’t want to waste a minute more.

 

 

* * *

 

Yaebin wasn’t used to go to sleep that late, but she was having a hard time resting her mind, therefore she just ended up in the couch with the remote on her hands and a bow of Nunu’s favorite snacks in front of her – the blonde was really a bad influence for her healthy food habits.

Kang couldn’t say she didn’t know it could happen, since the very beginning she knew Minkyung was already someone else’s. That’s why she tried her best to not get too attached or see things where they didn’t really exist. However, it would be a lie if she said she hadn’t thought about how things could be if Kim indeed liked her like a soulmate was supposed to do. Even in the short period of time they spent together, she had grown fond of the older woman and it was easy to picture a future together.

That day she could tell something was off. There was something on Minky’s eyes, a glint she couldn’t really define, but was still was so present. Minkyung was also acting different, looking more at ease than ever, as if she was moved by a strong purpose – and she was. It wasn’t a shock to hear the other girl’s words, yet it hurt a bit to know that now her chances of being with her soulmate were over for good. She kept saying to herself that it wasn’t a problem, that she had lived alone for long that it didn’t really matter, and she should be glad to at least have made a new friend.

She was sick and tired of lying to herself. Perhaps what she wanted wasn’t Minkyung, but someone who loved her unconditionally.

Having a soulmate wasn’t an only way ticket to happiness, it came with so many risks and required you to keep your heart on your sleeve. Still, all the risks seem to pay off. Her dad’s death had almost broken her family entirely, but when she remembered the smile on her mom’s face whenever he was around and how happy they were together, it was impossible to deny that nothing could compare to it. She had seen it happen to Eunwoo and Kyulkyung as well, how much the girl had affected Jung’s life and made her world so much brighter even if it was short lived. Minkyung seem to have something like it with her girlfriend, a bond that was so strong that not even the laws of life seem to be able to break it.

It was too much to ask to also be able to feel like this?

Loud knocks on her apartment’s door startled her, taking her out of her thoughts, and prompting her to stand up to go check what was happening. It was too late for a friendly visit, therefore it could only bad news. Bracing herself, she approach carefully the door, checking the electronic monitor to see who was it and furrowed her eyebrows the moment she saw a restless Eunwoo outside. Not hesitating a minute more, she throw the door open to face her best friend.

 **“Jung Eunwoo! What are you doing here?”** She asked, pulling the girl inside the place as soon as she saw her.

The blonde blinked nervously, taking a deep breath as she stared back at the raven with an weird look on her face. Yaebin had never seeing her like that and was starting to get worried by her silence. **“Eunwoo, is everything okay?”**

With a slightly nod the girl pulled away from her grip, only to extend her left hand, showing Yaebin her palm. The brunette’s first thought was to think that Kyul’s mark had vanished away entirely and it caused Eunwoo’s state, however when she took a look at the other woman’s hand she could only gasp in surprise.

 **“It just appeared here! Out of nowhere!”** Eunwoo exclaimed, still pointing out the blue print on her palm. It was a soulmate mark, a soulmate mark with Yaebin’s name on it out of all things. A name that _shouldn’t_ be there.

It wasn’t like her to curse, but she left out a small curse due to the shock. Eunwoo, who still seeing to be on the edge, didn’t waste time in pulling Yaebin’s hand to check for herself if the woman also had a new mark – of course she did. Both girls watched in awe as the red mark on her hand slowly disappeared to give place to a new blue one with Eunwoo’s signature.

They exchanged a look before Eunwoo left out a piercing scream and Yaebin went to the kitchen – she would need a lot more of junky food to deal with it. Maybe some drinks as well.

After about a hour, Yaebin was back in her couch, sat beside Eunwoo as they both contemplated what had just happened to them. It took Yaebin two whole bottles of soju and Eunwoo five huge slices of pizza – they had to order extra things – for them to be able to properly talk about it.

 **“Is Kyul’s mark still there?”** She said, voicing out her biggest concern as of now. Eunwoo being her new soulmate was shocking and she honestly didn’t have a clue about what do to, still, she knew how much love the other girl had for her first soulmate and how hurt she would be if the only thing she had left from her just disappeared. She couldn’t help but worry about Eunwoo, after all they were friends.

 **“It’s here.”** Eunwoo’s voice was small, so different from her usual noisiness. She looked down at her hand, observing how both marks stood side by side as if had always been like that. She had always feared the day her mark would disappear, but now instead of one, she had two. **“They are kind cute like this.”** She tried to give a smile, feeling awkward.

Jung was having a quiet night at her house finishing some editing for her next work when she felt the weird feeling of weight over her shoulders again, the same that always made her wonder if Kyulkyung was putting a prank on her from the other side. But this time was different from the usual, there was no chilling feel to it, instead she had felt a warm sensation on her forehead only a moment before the same feeling irradiated to her left hand. The next thing she knew, she had a new soul mark beside her old one, Yaebin’s name glowing slightly as if it had just been painted on her skin. After an initial freak out that included her slapping her own face to check if she was sleeping and requesting for the old lady next door to check it she could also see the mark – she could and looked at Eunwoo like she was a freak – she had to come meet her friend, hoping to get some answers there.

It wasn’t like she hated it. It was just so…Unexpected. One moment she was clinging onto Kyulkyung’s soulmate mark and cursing all the gods for giving her such unfortunate fate, in the other she had a brand new soul mark and life seem to be laughing at her face. Suddenly her mind was a bigger mess than usual and she was having a hard time adjusting.

 **“Didn’t you have a soulmate already though?”** The blonde glanced at her friend who seem to have developed a new drinking habit.

 **“I thought so.”** Yaebin made a face, because the situation was making her second guess everything and also because she still hadn’t fully adapted to the alcohol bitter taste.  She never heard about someone getting a new soulmate mark, but then again when had her life being typical? **“She basically _friendzoned_ me today. So I guess is the same as not having one?”** She shrugged, as if it was enough of an explanation. Well, technically it was the only one she had to give.

 **“Ei, you mean I’m your second choice?!”** Eunwoo protested with her mouth full of pizza – was it her seventh slice? Yaebin had lost the count. Nunu really had a peculiar charm.

 **“I could say the same thing, you know?”** The raven smirked.

The blonde sighed, sinking into the couch. Yaebin did the same, leaning against her friend shoulder. Bickering with Eunwoo was usually a good way of relaxing and make her feel at ease, it was good that their natural dynamics hadn’t been affect by the soulmate thing, no matter how awkward it was. **“I’m relieved.”** She admitted, fidgeting with the empty bottle she still held in her hands. **“I mean, that is you.”** Having a new soulmate all of sudden was a bit bizarre, yet knowing it was someone whom she knew and loved was somewhat comforting. 

Jung nodded slowly, she could understand what the other meant.  She never thought about finding someone else after Kyul, even when her mother tried to push her to date again it always seem so far fetched and useless, however if she was to have a new soulmate, she was glad it was Yaebin. **“Hm, I guess you are not that bad yourself.”** Her reply was only slightly playful, sincerity underlying it.

For a while they didn’t spoke, only enjoying each other’s company and trying to assimilate their new situation. How did it change things? Their feelings were still the same, right? It was hard to imagine the way they always saw each other changing all of sudden.

 **“So, what now?”** It was Nunu who finally voiced their concerns, her voice sounding as light as if she was just asking about the next movie they would watch. Typical Eunwoo, try to be practical and keep things fun. Yaebin felt her lips curving into an involuntary smile, they were so different, and Eunwoo couldn’t be any more different from Minkyung – the soulmate system was surely eclectic.

 **“You tell your mom you don’t need to go to blind dates anymore?”** She tried, her tone matching Jung’s. Eventually they would have to talk about it more seriously, but she had a tough day and maybe a little too much to drink, besides it seem like they would have plenty of time together from now on.

 **“You bet I am! She is trying to make me sign up for that dating app again and I still have nightmares about it.”** Nunu’s usual fast paced speech, along with her very expressive face was back, a good signal that she was fully back to normal. **“But at least the dudes there were over the kids height limit. ”** She hugged the smaller woman by the shoulder, giving her a teasing look. Yaebin shoved her slightly, chuckling lightly. **“You are not my type either. I asked for tall and dark, not talkative and dork, you know?”**

 

 

* * *

* * *

#  **_Tuesday_ **

 

As usual, Sungyeon kept her word and had delivered and handed Kyungwon the printed version of the first volume of her webtoon Tuesday afternoon. Bae had an unusual smirk on her face and her typical know it all expression was replaced for one that Kang could only identify as prideful. The woman didn’t waste time making conversation, instead she almost kicked her out saying she had ‘a feeling’ Minkyung would be at home earlier today – Kyungwon had no idea of how she could possibly know it, but she didn’t argue.

She was grateful surprised to figure out that Sungyeon was right and she was able to meet Minkyung on the way back home. **“It’s a gift! But wait until we get home.”** Kyungwon said when the taller woman asked about the small book she was carrying. Reaching their house, she was feeling as excited as a kid gets for Christmas and simply pulled Minkyung with her towards the studio.

 **“Should I feel flattered that you are finally letting me into here after a month?”** Minky teased, although the brown haired girl felt that it was a bit of hurt in her tone, and Kang wanted to kick herself for having being so dumb.

 **“You are always welcome here. You can get the key if I ever forget about it again.”** She promised, leaving a quick kiss on the girl’s cheek before leaving the book on the desk and take a seat on the comfortable armchair by the desk. Opening her arms, she gestured for Minkyung to take a seat on her lap.

Kim did as she asked, sitting down only to have Kyungwon’s arms wrapped around her in a tight hug that didn’t fail in making her smile. She had missed small things like this. During work she couldn’t properly concentrate in anything, always checking the soulmate mark on her hand to make sure it was still safely there and smile every time she saw it. Minkyung was just happy everything was back to its rightful place.

Kyungwon rested her chin on the brunette’s shoulder, giving her a mischievous smile. **“Go on and look at the last pages.”** She said referring to the book and Minky nodded slightly, doing as she was said. **“Wait, this is your novel! I thought it wouldn’t be out until next month.”**

**“Sungyeonie is being especially nice to me lately, so just thank her for this.”**

Nodding, the brunette proceed on turning the pages of the volume until she found the ones Kyungwon’s was talking about. She recognized the characters that the girl had shown her before, the ones inspired by them. The short story was a comic featuring the fox and the otter, it was about hunters invading the forest they lived on and menacing them, they had to move away fast, but the otter wanted to go to a warm place while the fox thought a colder place would be the best option. They had little time to argue and had to decide faster whether going separate ways or if they should just stick together and hope for the best. The otter decided for the latter, telling the fox that she needed to stay with her so she could hear the hunters first and keep her safe although both knew the otter was as scared as the fox, still the fox was glad for having the otter with her. It ended with them running away together.

The story wasn’t anything like Kyungwon’s other creations, it had a more sober tone to it and it was heartwarming as well. Minkyung loved it, especially when she knew the characters represented them. It was the kind of thing only Kyungwon would think about and it didn’t fail to get the expected reaction.

She took hold of the artist’s hands, intertwining their fingers and bringing them close so she could lay a kiss there. **“Is this your way of saying you want to stay with me for the good and bad?”** She asked, turning on Kyungwon’s lap so she could face her.

Kang returned the smile nodding. She always thought she would feel nervous in this moment, but she only felt excited and happy. They had come a long way together, it was just another step in their journey. **“This is my way of officially asking you to stick with me forever. Would you?”**

 **“Yes! There’s nothing I’d like more than that.”** Minkyung was smiling so wide now that her eyes had disappeared almost totally into crescent, her cheeks hurting from it, but she didn’t even notice, instead she leaned in to kiss her now fiancée lips. However, Kyungwon pulled away before she could kiss her properly.

 **“Oh, almost forgot about the ring!”** It was so typical of her to forget about one of the most important things in moments like this. The brown haired woman clumsy jungled Minkyung’s weight to reach out and get the box from the drawer. Handing it to the brunette with a wide grin, kissing her quickly. She had spent a lot of time picking the perfect ring and waiting for the right time to give it, it was hard to believe that the moment was finally here. **“Here, open it.”**

 **“It’s beautiful.”** Kim touched the small box, yet not opening it right away.

**“Wait, you…?”**

**“Took you long enough to let me properly see it**.” She clicked her tongue, opening the box to see the beautiful ring laying against the blue velvet. She had seen it months ago, and since then she waited anxiously for the day she could call Kyungwon hers and claim it officially. Different from her promise ring that was very simple, this one was clearly more expensive, engraved with little diamonds that made it shine as the light hit.  She didn’t care about how expensive it was, anything Kyungwon had given her would be special. Her smile didn’t wave, although she could feel happy tears starting forming in her eyes. **“Tomorrow we’ll go out and get you one too! I want them to match like our old ones.”**

Kyungwon only kissed her as a reply, hugging the brunette tightly. They would go and get her a ring, maybe even start to plan things for the wedding. If their little crisis taught her something, it was to take action and value every moment they had, and that was exactly what she would do.

 

 

* * *

* * *

#  **_2 years later_ **

 

 **“It looks really nice.”** Minkyung said with an approval nod as she looked around the place.

 **“We have so many clients that I’m nearly going insane, but it feels nice.”** Yaebin crossed her arms over her chest, filled with pride, the expansion of the bookstore had gone well and business had never been better.

 **“Did you find new employees already? I heard Yerim and Siyeon are still in Japan.”** The taller woman leaned on the balustrade, letting her eyes travel to the first floor where Kyungwon and Eunwoo were having a heated conversation about fishing – although both were terrible at it.

 

 **“Sort of. The celebrity over there said she would help me with the interviews, but she always asks weird things to people and then suddenly the interview becomes her and some college kid talking about our cats.”** She faked an annoyed sigh, albeit Minkyung could see the fondness in her expression when she talked about Jung.

Minky chuckled, she could easily picture such scene. **“I always watch her show, she is surely entertaining.”** Eunwoo worked as an announcer delivering the evening news in a very unorthodoxy way. Even Kyungwon had taking a liking a liking for the show, and Kyungwon _hated_ the news.

 **“That’s her just being herself.”** Yaebin said with a soft giggle. Eunwoo’s new position on the entertainment industry was quite unexpected, but fit her perfectly. She got do to what she loved the most: snoop around for scoops and talk too much while being payed to do it.

 **“How are things between you two? The trip went well, I suppose?”** Kim arched her eyebrows, a glimpse of unmistakable mischievousness in her eyes – she was starting to resemble that silly wife of hers. By the way her lips trembled in a playful smile when Yaebin nodded positively, she was sure Kyungwon’s mischievousness had affected her friend.

 **“Don’t start it. We are still only dating.”** She said rolling her eyes at the girl’s smile. **“I can’t marry someone whose ideal date is eat friend chicken with soju while watching reruns of old dramas with my cats.”**

The brunette covered her mouth to hide a laugh. **“It doesn’t sound that bad. I know you secretly like it.”**

 **“Maybe once in a while, but every day?”** Yaebin made a face, shaking her head. She would need to get Eunwoo into a better diet if she still wanted to have a wife in her 40’s, and taking into consideration how close to home the idea of losing someone hit them both, she was doing it for real. **“She is jogging with me twice a week, so I think it’s a beginning.”** She shrugged, knowing it would take a long time to Nunu get used to a better life style – her current tactic was to try corrupt Yaebin instead. **“What about your celebrity author?”** She nodded in Kyungwon’s direction.

 **“We are bickering every day because she insists in pulling all nighters to meet her deadlines and keeps on nagging about my book.”** It was Minky’s turn to grimace, but soon she laughed, dismissing the subject. She didn’t have too much to complain, her life with Kyungwon was happier than she could’ve wished for. They had moved into their new home just last year and adopted a new dog since Kongie was too attached to Kyungwon’s parents to move in with them. They were currently back to a comfortable routine that included Kyungwon picking her up from work every day and they having weekly movie and writing marathons that mostly ended with too much kissing and little work done. **“I think we are ready to start a family now…Following Kyungwon’s logic we already did since we adopted Poobie, so maybe I should say a human family?”** She chuckled softly, letting her gaze fall on her wife that was still talking to Eunwoo. **“They get along well, we should go out together sometime. Didn’t you say Eunwoo likes horror movies? We should go to see one.”**

 **“She says she does, but then she screams at the screen whenever there’s a jumpscare**.” Last time Yaebin had got nearly deaf from all the scream, yet Jung had claimed the movie wasn’t scary at all and that was her just _enjoying_ it. In these occasions Yaebin would only hug her closer and close her eyes, hoping the movie could end up already and save both her heart and ears.

Her life with Eunwoo hadn’t changed much. They had always been close, the big problem was to learn to see the Jung as something other than just her frisky friend and it took a while for it to happened. But the transition was nice, slowly they learnt about a new side of each other and things evolved naturally. Just like with Minkyung, she could feel a connection that was probably a direct result of the mark, yet it felt a bit different this time. Kim had told her about her finding on that old book that no one seem able to read. It was a relief to know that her feelings were genuine and the soulmate mark only worked as a little ‘push’ and not the main factor to make you love someone or not.

 **“Minky, I think I’ve never asked you about it,”** She said, a sparkle of curiosity igniting in her mind. **“You said you went to a bookstore and that’s how you changed your mark. But you never spoke about the store again. You didn’t try to go back there?”**

 **“I tried to find the place to return the book, but no matter how many times I try, I never find it. It’s almost like it was never there.”** Kim furrow her eyebrows with a slightly frustrated expression. If it wasn’t the book that she still kept on Kyungwon’s studio, she would’ve thought she had dreamt it all. **“But I guess what the librarian told me was true, they only open for special occasions. Perhaps I was just able to find it because I needed to.”**

Yaebin was a very skeptical person, still it was hard to not believe in Minkyung’s word when she had seen for herself the soulmate mark in her hand change into a new one. **“Whoever that librarian was, I’m glad you found her and was able to change things…No offense, former-soulmate.”**

 **“None taken. I’m glad I could get both, my perfect match and a great friend, too.”** She smiled at the raven. Minkyung meant her words when she had said she still wanted Yaebin in her life, even if in the beginning it was a bit awkward, soon enough they were comfortable around each other again and Minky would try and help the small Kang to deal with her new soulmate situation. **“I’m also glad you and Eunwoo have each other now. I’ve never seen you smile so much before.”**

A very light blush covered Yaebin’s cheek, although she curved her lips in mockery. **“This is only because Jung Eunwoo can’t be serious not even to save her life.”**

 **“Neither does Kyungwon. But that’s one of the reasons why we love them, isn’t it?”** Minky grinned, waving at the duo on the first floor.   **“Come on. Let’s go to somewhere nice for dinner, before they decide on eating at that chicken place that you like so much.”**

 With a scoff Yaebin followed the taller girl downstairs, unable to hide a smile when Eunwoo’s small hand slip into hers the moment she approached the duo. She saw the way Kyungwon back hugged Minkyung with such naturally and her smile grew wider.

The soul marks might’ve caused a lot of trouble in their lives at first, but in the end everything was worth it and she wouldn’t have changed a thing.

 

 

* * *

 

 **“Everything worked out. As expected!”** Sungyeon said as they watched the scene on the glass window of the library.

 **“They look so cute together, don’t they?”** Kyulkyung’s nose wrinkled adorably when she smiled, her dark eyes shinning brightly as she watched the couples talking. Instead of jealousy, she was happy to see Eunwoo having a new chance at love with someone as special as Yaebin, she knew they would be good to each other.

 **“I guess so.”** Nayoung who was beside her, took a glance at her face and smiled ever so slightly – she didn’t really care about humans, or at least is what she liked to say, but it was undeniable that she had grown fond of her noise assistant.

 **“Happy to see the fruits of your manipulations?”** Kyla’s question was directed to Sungyeon who didn’t look not even a bit sorry for everything she had done to make sure they reached this conclusion, the small girl had her head up high and a winner smile on her face.

“ **Obviously. I was right in the ending, wasn’t I?”** She raised an eyebrow at Nayoung. The two of them would probably spend the rest of the century arguing about it, but the other two were used to it by now and wouldn’t give them any attention. Nayoung just shrugged, she would rather to avoid any argument that involved her having to admit Destiny was right about anything.

 **“Right or wrong you still have 48 years of punishment to finish.”** Kyla interrupted, amusing flashing in her eyes for a moment that didn’t pass unnoticed by the goddess of fate. Death might act like she is insensible to human emotions, but clearly she wasn’t all that much.

With a snort, Sungyeon waved her hand, making the image on the window disappear **. “Then let’s move. Is not like the death can wait, I suppose.”** She ironize, her grumpy face receiving an eye roll from her new boss. **“See you soon, Kyulkyung. And you too, Stone.”** She waved before disappearing beside Kyla who simply bid them farewell with a nod.

 **“We should get going as well. Do you have everything ready?”** Nayoung asked Kyul. The assistant nodded enthusiastically before disappearing in the back of the library for a moment, coming back with a simple piece of paper in hand **. “Here are the names.”**

The goddess took the paper in her own hands, touching the names carefully and closing her eyes for a moment. **“It’s correct.”** With a short nod, she opened her eyes and offered her free arm to Kyulkyung.

It was time to fix another one of her mistakes – and hopefully Sungyeon wouldn’t try to mess up with this one as well.

 


	10. Choices (Alternative Ending)

#  **_Friday_ **

 

 **Nayoung looked at her assistant** who was currently going through one of their books, noticing how upset the younger one seemed. **“So, you noticed it.”** She said in her usual calm tone, feeling a bit more in control of herself after last week’s confrontation with Fate – that short old lady surely had a temper. **“Things are bound to happen. Destiny and you should know it.”**

The raven haired woman sighed, not bothering in hiding her feelings any longer. Nayoung and her might not agree on a lot of things, but she didn’t have much option other than being honest now. **“Why couldn’t you just allow her in that day? If you had, she could’ve get the book and…”**

 **“And act as reckless as you and Sungyeon have been acting?”** Im shook her head in disapproval, crossing her arms. She might be the youngest goddess and make mistakes once in a while, however, she was trying her best to do things right this time around. **“Humans have free will for a reason. I’m giving them the right of choice, and you can’t choose things without time.”**

Kyulkyung grimaced, closing the book to glare at the older woman. **“You say this as if the mark can’t affect their feelings. The longer we wait, the stronger than bond gets.”**

Nayoung massaged her temples, an old habit that was getting out of hand with all the stress Fate and her stubborn assistant had been putting her through. One would think that her, as the guardian of the soulmates, would have more freedom to act **. “The mark can’t force them to do anything. It doesn’t create feelings, it just helps them to connect and makes things easy.”** The soulmate system, like the council liked to call, wasn’t a simple thing, it depended as much of the people as it depended of her choices – that’s why she always felt tired and stressed, overwhelmed by every single choice she ever made. She wasn’t able to create love, to forge it and give it away whenever it pleased her, she could only to give humans a good chance of developing the feeling for someone who could also feel the same. **“It can’t change their hearts. The final choice is always up to them.”**

Silence filled the air as the chinese girl took into consideration Nayoung’s words, putting the book back into the shelf. They had so many books, she had lost the count of the times she had tried to read it and failed most of the time – Nayoung told her that only who need it, can read it. She felt like she really needed it right now, yet she was only able to check the registry books and nothing else. Kyulkyung wondered if Minkyung would be able to read the red book once she got the chance or if it would be useless.

Ju had put all her hopes into this, believing it was the right thing to do. To know, there was a chance it all would only lead to another mishap was affecting her more than expected. While Sungyeon showed her unhappiness with an attitude, she could only show it by the heavy sighs she let escaped once in a while. Yaebin was a very dear person to her, her first real friend in that country and the one person who had always supported her and Eunwoo in their crazy antics. Yaebin deserved her own love story, one without so much pain and heartbreak – unfortunately, it was out of Kyulkyung’s reach. Just like giving Eunwoo a happy ending seem to be.

 **“Nayoung unnie?”** Her voice was small when she called for the elder, she could feel Nayoung’s inscrutable eyes on her. **“Sungyeon told me you are able to see a lot of things to help you choose what is best.”**

The older brunette raised her brow slightly, her eyes becoming a little sharper. **“I can’t see things like she does. I only catch a glimpse of fate.”**

 **“You can see how it ends.”** Such a simple statement also carried so much weight. Kyulkyung knew for a while about it, even before a very annoyed Destiny decide to snap at Nayoung, she was smart enough to presume it. Im needed to know this much to do her work properly, to plan on who should be with who, and when it should happen. However, it took Kyul a long time to accept what it meant to her.

Nayoung didn’t say anything, knowing what was coming next and bracing herself to a conversation she would rather to not have.

 **“If could see what my destiny was, why did you assign me a soulmate? It goes against the protocol.”** There was no anger in the assistant’s tone, she couldn’t blame Nayoung for this. As bittersweet as it was, the woman had granted her the chance of being by Eunwoo’s side, even if only for a couple of months.

The goddess let her eyes wander through the shop, avoiding Kyul’s dark eyes. She had reprimand Sungyeon for meddling in human matter, but how much better she really was? She was in no position to censor the other divinity. All the mistakes she made, every bad decision, would always torment her, but she couldn’t possibly regret that one.

 **“Doesn’t everyone deserve a chance at love?”** Braving up, the older woman looked at Kyulkyung.

The assistant could have argued that it wasn’t fair to her soulmate, nor for her, that loving and losing was much worse than never falling in love. She could have said that watching Eunwoo suffer because of her was killing her all over again. But she didn’t. Because no matter how much it pained them both, how much it made her frustrated and sad, she didn’t regret it. Kyulkyung would never regret having Eunwoo in her life, being with her and loving her. She knew it was the same for the Jung. Nayoung had giving them happiness, even if it was briefly.

So she just listened in silence, a small, sad smile on her face as she took a seat next to her boss.

**“Thank you.”**

**“I’m sorry.”**

The simple sentences, filled with sincerity were enough for now. As much as Kyulkyung’s destiny was to cross paths with Eunwoo in life, it was also her fate to stand by Nayoung for the rest of her existence. They had a long way to go.

 

 

* * *

 

Sitting at a booth in the corner of a quiet restaurant near Minkyung’s workplace, Yewon stared at her sister with shock, reaching to take Minky’s left hand between hers. Her gaze darting from her conflicted sister to the mark on her palm. **“Oh my god, _unnie_! H-How? I thought you wouldn’t ever…” **She began, her tone full of shock and worry.

Minkyung retreated her hand, feeling uncomfortable under her little sister’s gaze. She knew that her family wouldn’t deal well with it, just like herself they had grown used to the idea that she would never get a soul mark, specially one that connected her to a stranger instead of Kyungwon. Yewon hadn’t said anything about her sister in law yet, but they both knew she was wondering where it placed Kang now.

 **“I don’t know…It just happened.”** She shrugged, closing her hand and pulling it closer to her body.

With a deep breath, she gave Yewon a short version of what happened in the last month. As she spoke, she noticed Yewon’s usually bright smile slowly disappearing giving space to a gloomy look.

**“So that why you just left that night…You told mom and dad about it?”**

The older Kim nodded, refraining from grimacing at the memory. Earlier that day she had sat down with her parents and explained it all, and as expected of her parents they had supported her in the best way they could, albeit none of them knew what to tell her or how to react. They knew her girlfriend since middle school, their families were as tied together just as the girls were, and it was hard to simply act like it wasn’t a huge family matter that could affect them all.

 **“They told me to be honest with myself and do what I think is the best.”** She said, fidgeting with the ring on her hand, not finding the comfort it usually brought.  She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to make a decision when all of her choices would hurt someone in the end, including herself.

 **“It’s a good advice.”** The younger brunette’s voice was quiet, her expression thoughtful as if she was trying to form her own opinion on the matter. For her, the soulmate mark was a bless, something that connected her to someone she had loved almost instantly and brought her nothing but happiness. It didn’t seem fair that her sister received one after so long, just to ruin her already happy life. **“How is Kyungwon _unnie_ doing?”**

Another heavy sigh came out of the taller woman. **“I’m not sure. She has been very busy with work, or at least it’s what she tells me.”** Minkyung frowned, the grip on her ringer growing a bit stronger. **“She is just being Kyungwon, what means that she putting everyone but herself first.”** Letting go of the ring, Minkyung used her right hand to massaged her temple where a headache was making her presence known. **“We don’t talk that much anymore and I can’t blame her for it…Sometimes we try but it’s… It doesn’t seem like us anymore.”**

She remembered the last time they sat down to watch her favorite series together, but instead of cuddling in the couch, spending more time making out than actually watching anything like they used to do, they sat far apart and actually paid attention to the TV, filling the empty space with random comments about the show. Whenever they tried something, it all just seem _off_. The hugs were awkward, the kisses clumsy. After a couple of episodes they agreed on going to bed, where none of them slept right away, exchanging awkward smiles as they lay on their side of the bed until Kyungwon finally hugged her. The hug lacked the usual warmth, Kang’s pansy scent unable to calm her and lead her peacefully to dream land. That night she lost the count of how many times she woke up, disturbed by nightmares. In the end, she simply rolled to the side, laying on her back and staring at the ceiling until she could fall asleep in the early morning.

Part of her knew she should be the one taking action, trying to bring Kyungwon closer not only to her body, but also to her heart. Nevertheless, she simply couldn’t. An irrational fear growing in her chest every time she hugged the girl and she felt something was off, every time they kissed and it didn’t make her heart skip a beat…She was afraid of trying and failing to feel like she used to.

 **“I don’t know what I would do in her place…I don’t even know if what I’m doing right now is the right thing for us.”** Minky spoke, feeling her eyes heavy with tears that wouldn’t fall and her shoulders even heavier with the weight of her unmade choices. She shook her head slightly. **“I need to think about Yaebin too.”** Yaebin, who was a new part of her life, shouldn’t be considered any less important and the more time they spend together, the more she was starting to understand that the younger woman wasn’t something she could simply brush aside.

There was a glimpse of surprise on Yewon’s eyes, but it soon disappeared as she averted her gaze. **“I don’t know this girl, Minky. I don’t how you feel about her either.”** Her voice was careful, even quieter than before. **“But what I, or anyone else thinks, doesn’t really matter. It only matters what you feel.”** She gave her older sister a small, fond smile. **“And you deserve the world, _unnie_. Don’t let anyone get in the way of your happiness.” **Yewon gave her hands another comforting squeeze before pulling back, giving the older girl some space.

Minkyung returned her smile. She wasn’t sure she really deserved so much kindness of all people in her life, not when she was the one putting them through such a tough time, however she was glad for having them by her side. She slid on her seat, to get closer to her little sister. **“Yewon, I love you!”** She said, hugging the younger girl tight. Yewon left out a light chuckle, hugging her back and even without looking Minkyung knew that her eye smile was back on her face as it was supposed to be. She kissed the girl’s head affectionately. **“I should’ve called you earlier, I miss talking to you.”**

 **“You can always call me, you know that. That’s what family is for.”** The smaller brunette reassured, breaking the hug to give Minkyung a gentle pat on the shoulder. **“Now let’s eat. I have to go back to my rehearsal and you to your work, and we haven’t even touched the food yet.”**

The older Kim nodded, only then realizing that her drink had gone cold and her sandwich was still intact on her plate. They ate in a comfortable silence that somewhat was the most relaxing time Minkyung had in a while – being with any of the Kangs was a pleasure and a pain at the same time, and it was something that they couldn’t help her with.

After lunch, she walked Yewon to the door, ready to wave her goodbye when the brown haired girl took a gentle hold of her hands demanding her attention. Brown eyes, the same shade as hers, faced her with seriousness albeit her sister still had a smile on her face.

 **“I’m sure Kyungwon only wants you to be happy. Just like I do.”** Yewon’s small, warm and soft hands squeezed hers gently, rubbing circles on the back of it to try and calm Minkyung down. There was hesitation in her tone, when she proceeded **. “But you also need to think about her happiness. I love you both. I hope you can find a way to work things out, as a couple or….”** The younger Kim signature smile was nowhere to be seen now, replaced by a thin line of worry. **“Anyway, I’m always here for you, so keep it in mind.”** She stepped back, letting go of the elder’s hand to give her a small wave. **“Call me if you need anything!”**

Minkyung forced her thin lips into a smile, returning her little sister’s wave with a weak one. **“I’ll. Take care, Yewonie.”**

 

 

* * *

 

 **“Mom? Dad? I’m home!”** The tall Kang called, stepping inside her parent’s house front yard. The Kangs weren’t exactly a quiet family, making it rather easy to tell when there was no one home – like now. The girl called her mother, listening as the woman showered her with unnecessary apologies for not being there to welcome her and ask her to come in using the ‘secret’ spare key.

She sighed, thinking that luck was never on her side. Kyungwon had traveled hours to come visit her family for the weekend, yet, her parents went to visit a distant relative of theirs and they wouldn’t be home until later today. The spare key was in one of the flower pots close to Kongie’s old dog house, something that was more decorative than useful since the white canine always stay inside.

Kyungwon entered the house and she was changing into the comfortable slippers her parents kept in the hall when a ball of white fur came running to meet her. **“Kang Kongie!”** She greeted with a sincere smile that was hardly seen lately, lowering herself to hug the small dog to her chest. The little guy greeted her with plenty of wet kisses that made her laugh and try to avoid his attempts of licking her face clean **. “I missed you, too!”** She caressed his soft fur, hugging him a little tighter.  The last month had been so tough on her that she couldn’t come by to see him, although she would still video call her family once in a while, it was not the same as to hold her dog in her arms.

 **“When summer finally arrives we are going to that hotel I told you about.”** Talking to Kongie may seem a little silly, considering the dog couldn’t really understand her words, but still it helped her relax and feel closer to him. Being around her beloved dog, in her family house had a calming effect on her, bringing the kind of happiness she wasn’t able to feel at her own house anymore. **“I bought you some snacks! You want it?”**

Placing the dog back on the floor, Kang reached out for something in her backpack, grabbing the dog cookies. Kongie obediently followed her as she searched for his plate and finally gave it to him. **“Here you go! Good boy, you are the best boy!”** She ruffled his fur a bit, before giving him some space so he could stuff himself with the snacks.

Leaving her backpack on the couch and getting rid of her coat, she made herself comfortable. Her mom had told her where to find food in case she felt hungry, but the brown haired woman couldn’t bring herself to eat anything – albeit she probably should, considering how much her mother would nag her for being too skinny and all those things every mom says. Instead, she walked through the house, smiling at the little details that bring her good memories. Her smile became bittersweet as she looked at the pictures where Minkyung was also present, as if she was part of the family as well. Shaking her head slightly, she moved, walking towards her room where pretty much everything still remains the same as when she was still in school.

Kongie, who came running as soon as he finished his meal, was once again following her, although he climbed her bed and lay there accompanying her with his eyes instead of running around. He was getting old. **“Feeling tired? Yeah, me too.”** Giving him a weak smile, she took a seat by her old desk, going through her old notebooks filled with drawings that ranged greatly in quality, but didn’t fail to make her smile nostalgic. The collection of illustrations were mainly from high school, the time where she first went to Seoul to study and would send her parents some drawings illustrating her daily life. Her dad, the gentle and warmhearted man, kept it all with great care and it was the reason for her to keep sending it even when she felt tired and frustrated with her school routine. Surprisingly, there weren’t that many mentions of Minky in her letters or in the drawings, however she knew soon the other girl would start to pop up more and more on it, claiming a very important place in her life.

There was a collection of books, some manga, and a huge shelf filled with her favorite anime and movies DVDs. Some pictures were scattered around the room, mostly pictures of her and her siblings in funny poses. As the oldest, she always felt protective of the other two, making sure they were always safe and sound. It was a relief to know they both, her twin sister and her younger brother, had grown up just fine and were already starting their own families now.

It was weird, that out of everyone in her family, she was the only one who hadn’t been graced with a soul mark and a fixed fate. She wondered if it meant something.

Pursing her lips tightly together, Kyungwon changed her focus to the old keyboard that rested on its case, probably forgotten by everyone else. Carefully, she opened the case, testing some of the keys before taking the keyboard out to plug it and proceed to test how it sounded – not very good, although she couldn’t affirm it was the instrument and not her rusty fingers that hadn’t played in so long. Nevertheless, she didn’t mind the sound quality. Little by little, her fingers got used to playing, hitting the right notes as a song naturally come up to the brunette’s mind. The song wasn’t upbeat, but it gave her a good feeling, specially when she started to sing it out loud – Kongie barked happily in return, no doubt remembering that his owner used to do sing it often. Kyungwon was too lost in the music to pay him attention, using it as an outlet to all her conflicted feelings.

The song had some melancholy to it, or maybe she was the one making the notes a bit longer than necessary to match her own mood.

Hours passed before she could hear the front door opening and her parents coming in. She glanced at Kongie that now slept comfortably on the bed. With a sigh, she stood up, careful to not make too much noise, and left the room. It was about time she told her parents what was going on, and allow herself to take comfort in their presence and words.

Perhaps spending some time out would help her see things more clearly.

 

 

* * *

 

 **Yaebin waved goodbye to her coworkers,** locking the bookstore doors. It had been a tough day, full of customers coming and going, her mother calling her inquiring about her soulmate mark – she had no idea how the woman knew about it, but she knew for sure she didn’t want to talk to her about it just yet. While her only reliable confident, Eunwoo, had disappeared since last week, off to work on something – it was easy to drown into her own problems, but Eunwoo was still her closest friend and someone dear to her heart, not knowing where she was or what she was doing wasn’t something she could handle with easily. Nunu wasn’t an investigative reporter, and she tried to remind herself that the other was most likely just trying to get a scoop on some random celebrity and not trying to reveal a new drug cartel. However, it didn’t mean she didn’t miss her loud and nosy friend.

To complete, Kyla suddenly informed her that it would be her last week at work and now Yaebin would have to find a new part time worker that would hardly be as hard working and trustworthy as the younger girl was. Yooa said she knew someone, but they would still have to go through the normal interview process and Kang really hated this part of the work. She covered her mouth, yawning as she stepped back. Usually Minkyung would have come over to their usual meeting – was it a date? A reunion? She had no idea, but she couldn’t deny that it was becoming of her favorite things. However, she was too busy with work and Minky was also caught up with something, so they agreed on having lunch together the next day instead.

The small brunette was about to start her walk home, when two arms hugged her tightly, an annoyingly loud – yet very familiar– voice sounding close to her face. **“Kang Yaebin!”** Eunwoo greeted, giving her an overly energetic smile that could only belong to the blonde. Yaebin chuckled, shrugging the girl off, just to hug her properly right after. She hadn’t seen Jung in days, what for them wasn’t something very common.  **“Jung Eunwoo!”**

They both laughed, breaking the embrace so they could talk as they walked to the common direction that would lead to their neighborhood. **“Where have you been? You haven’t even called me.”** The slightly younger woman asked, glancing at the blonde that just shook her head.

 **“All of sudden I got this huge scoop and had to fly all the way to Jejudo! Can you believe it? I mean, it was nice and free, but I had barely time to breath running after leads before the other journalists get to it.”** As usual Nunu explained while making over exaggerated hand gestures, explaining in detail how she had figured out about a scheme that was going on in the place and had to pull all nighters to get to the bottom of it before someone else did. Yaebin couldn’t help but smile fondly at her antics, knowing that the girl was most likely exaggerating everything to make the story more exciting. She hugged the girl by the shoulder, bringing her down to kiss her cheek affectionately. **“Ew, what are you even doing Kang?!”**

Yaebin smiled grew wider. **“I missed you so much, Nunu!”** And even though the blonde was making her best acting to pretend being annoyed about the sudden demonstration of affection, she knew Eunwoo felt the same way. After all, they had been through a lot together all these years and there was no one she was closer than Nunu. **“Let’s have dinner together.”**

Eunwoo smiled, giving up on pushing the girl away at the thought of food. **“You are paying.”**

The shorter brunette faked a sigh. **“Only because we are going to that vegan restaurant at…”**

 **“What? No! This doesn’t count as food!”** As expected the refusal came soon and Yaebin laughed out loud.

 **“Then you are paying!”** She replied in the same tone, still clinging to the girl’s arm as they walked. She missed their bickering, the ease going conversation that she could only share with her best friend. They kept arguing for a while, before setting down on a chicken stew place not so far from there. As they walked, an insistent smile was on Kang’s face, as she remembered their first meeting. She could never have imagined that a college project could bring such a good friend into her life.

 **_“Hey!...Hey you, look over here!”_ ** _Yaebin heard someone whisper shout, right behind her. She turned around to face the girl who was still waving her hands frantically. Kang frowned, confused with the others actions. It was only their second week of classes, she was having a hard time memorizing all the new faces in her classes._

 **_“Hi?”_ ** _She tried, unsure of what to say._

 **_“You don’t have a pair, do you? Come here, I’m alone too.”_ ** _The girl called, her monolid eyes now curved in a smile just like her lips. Yaebin hadn’t even agreed on it yet, but she had a feeling it would be really hard to deny anything to the other girl, so she simply did as she was told – after all she would need to find a partner sooner or later, therefore was better to do it now and start the activities._

 **_“Hm, hey. I’m Kang Yaebin, by the way.”_ ** _The smaller woman introduced herself, switching seats so she could seat beside the girl. She took a good look at her partner, noticing how bright her dark eyes were, contrasting with her light brown hair and her red lipstick. The girl was tall, even sitting, it was possible to notice their height difference – what was rather funny considering how small her hands were when she offered it for a friendly handshake. **“Jung Eunwoo, nice to meet you!”** That girl was one of kind, Yaebin decided as she shook hands with Eunwoo._

_Yaebin opened her book alongside her laptop, ready to begin the work, but even before she could suggest anything Eunwoo subtly elbowed her to whisper. **“I have no idea what we are supposed to do, but the teacher is looking at us so pretend you are typing something smart!”**_

_The younger girl had to purse her lips to refrain from laughing at Eunwoo’s urgent tone. She started to type the works title, feeling the taller girl’s gaze on her back. **“Don’t be too impressed. I’ll let you do all the research since I’m already doing the first part of the assignment.”** _

_Eunwoo opened her mouth to protest, but Yaebin cut her off. **“Don’t worry, it’s easy. Take a look at my notes.”** She said more gently, giving the girl a reassuring smile._

_With a exaggerate sigh, Eunwoo nodded, return the smile. **“Just give me a minute.”**_

_Soon Jung also had her laptop open to search the things Yaebin would tell her._

_Yaebin learned that Eunwoo wasn’t exactly the most attentive person in class, yet she was really quick to catch up on the subjects and had a special way with the words that made the Kang regret not having let her write first. Later that day, when Eunwoo dragged her out to have a completely unhealthy lunch at the cafeteria, she learned that Jung was majoring in journalism and although she was a total dork – who had the very terrible habit of talking while trying to gulp down her fries – , she was also an incredibly smart one._

_They ended spending more time than it was necessary together, forgetting about the work to just talk about random stuff. Yaebin would hear Eunwoo’s overly exaggerate stories and laugh as she pointed out all the clumsy lies the girl included to make it more impactful. She also talked about her own major and how she was adapting to college and living in a dorm, the taller girl would listen to her with attention, giving out tips and telling her own struggles. They both were freshmen, however Jung seem to know every single corner of the campus already and excited to show it all to her new friend._

_Eunwoo was her total opposite, and perhaps that was why they clicked so well._

 

 

* * *

 

The house was empty when Minkyung finally came back home after one of the most stressful work days of her life – her annoying boss was being investigated for some shady scheme and she had to spend the whole afternoon and part of the evening helping her superiors go through the woman’s archives. She would have laughed at the irony of such an austere woman that overworked her and the rest of the staff, was only making easy bucks by selling titles to a rival company instead of actually working. But she didn’t. Kim was too tired to express so much emotion, besides now she didn’t even know what they would make with her department at the company, she might even be lay off if they decided to close the department.

She let herself sink into the couch, not bothering to take off her coat or turning on the lights. She wished she could just close her eyes and sleep there for the whole weekend – unfortunately she couldn’t. Although the company had gave her the two days off, she had other things in her mind.

Her eyes went to the corridor that would lead to Kyungwon’s office. Her girlfriend was out, off to see her parents for the day and probably would only be back by tomorrow’s night – if she did as usual, it wouldn’t be so weird if Kang simply decided to spend more time away. Minkyung couldn’t blame her.

If the pressure of the situation was big on her, it was also heavy on the slightly younger woman. Kyungwon hearty laughter hadn’t filled the place in a long time, her grin was less and less frequent and Minky could see a constant worry in her pretty eyes. It all should’ve been enough to make her take action, to draw a clear line between her and Yaebin and find a way of making things right with Kyungwon again, like she deserved.

Yet, she didn’t.

In the beginning she told herself she was only following Kyungwon’s idea and trying to use it as a way to understand better the soulmate mechanisms and how she could defeat it – if it was even possible. But the more time passed and the more she got to know Yaebin, she could feel things slowly changing inside her. Things she never thought could change.

It wasn’t only about Yaebin, it was something deep inside her.

She couldn’t even recall when it happened, but now she was sure it had happen. Maybe it was when they started drifting apart and Kyungwon decided to close herself up to Minkyung, perhaps it was what allowed the first crack  on the shield around Kim’s heart to appear. A crack that grew into various others, slowly but surely weakening her defenses until she could barely feel it was there still. Now there was something else in its place.

The movie night had confirmed one of her biggest fears, something that she still wasn’t brave enough to admit out loud.

Being around Kyungwon wasn’t the same, as if the feeling wasn’t there anymore.

The magic, the sparkles and all those things that she never payed much attention until it was gone. Kyungwon’s skin was still soft and nice under her hands, yet holding her hand didn’t make her feel butterflies in her stomach. Kyungwon’s hugs were still comfortable and full of warmth, yet her pansy scent wasn’t able to calm her heart, it seem hard to notice now. Kyungwon’s lips were still gentle and loving, however her heart wouldn’t skip a beat at the feeling of them, its beats would stay steady and her breath normal, indifferent. And every time she would notice the disappointment hidden behind the girl’s fake smile as they would pretend to pay attention to the show as if nothing happened.

Minkyung hugged a cushion, so strong her hands hurt, scrapping the soft fabric that covered it. She knew she still loved her girlfriend, she couldn’t even imagine a world where she didn’t, however she was aware that her love had changed. Even before they dated, before soulmates were real concerns and they were still just kids, Kyungwon had always been special to her.

Or was she not? Had Minkyung put all her expectations on the girl and poured her love onto her because she was her best friend and the one person she knew would always be there for her? Was this the reason her love was crumbling so fast, overtaking for the stronger, rightful feeling brought by the mark?

It was hard to think that if Yaebin was there when they were young, she wouldn’t have noticed Kyungwon. She wouldn’t have loved her.

All the happy memories begged to differ.

 

_Her eyes followed the girl as she walked into the classroom, she looked a bit frazzled by all the attention, but still had a smile on her face. Minkyung observed her with uncommon interest, curiosity prompting her to lean over her table to have a better view of the girl. Being the tallest kid in her class, to see another tall girl was quite an event. However, it wasn’t the reason why the other seem so interesting to her. There was a special something about the girl. Her slightly tanned skin and dark eyes, the way that she stand straight and refused to be intimidated by the audience, her grin that was playful, yet friendly. It all made Minkyung want to know her better, even if she herself was a bit on the shy side and usually would wait for people approach her and not the other way around._

**_“My name is Kang Kyungwon. I’m from Gwangju. I came here because my dad got a promotion and because I like drawing.”_ ** _Her speech was fast, marked by the heavy accent of her hometown and by a confidence Minkyung could only wish she shared. Kyungwon’s eyes wandered through the room, as if she could memorize everyone’s face just by it – later Minky would know she was just embarrassed and looking for a place to sit, so she could get off of the spotlight –, her beautiful dark chocolate eyes stopping on Minkyung for just a little moment as they both stared at each. Minky’s young heart skipped a beat for the first time in her life, but the feeling didn’t scare her, it was quite the opposite._

 **_“Please take good care of me.”_ ** _Kyungwon grin grew wider as she bowed, breaking the visual contact. Minkyung forced herself to avert her eyes to her notebook and not followed the girl. Kang sat on the other side of the class, too far for Kim to look at her without being too obvious, and way too far to allow any contact between them._

_Still, when the bell ring signalizing the end of class, she could swear she saw the newcomer stop by the door and stare directly at her direction with that same grin she was starting to associate with Kang Kyungwon._

_It would take them two long, awkward weeks, to properly talk, but once they did, they never broke apart._

 

Not until now.

She buried her face into the cushion, her hot tears wetting the pillow as the sobs shook her.

Kyungwon deserved better than this and she knew she owe her the truth. She just didn’t know if she was ready to have Kyungwon out of her life.

 

 

* * *

 

It was late, but Kyungwon was still up, working on her laptop as Kongie slept beside her. Her conversation with her parents had been worse than expected, they seem more heartbroken than her, even to the point of asking her to come home for a while. It was hard to keep her composure and not breakdown. She still had somethings to do, crucial things that she couldn’t simply ignore.

Just a couple of months before she had everything figured out. She had plans for her work and personal life, she had Minkyung beside her and she was undeniably happy. Now she felt like she only had her work left. And even this was somewhat tainted.

She had just sent out the last panels to Sungyeon, thanks to Siyeon’s help they were able to finish it on time and made a good enough work to be published. However, there was a small detail that only her and Sungyeon knew about and she couldn’t postpone it any longer. Putting her laptop aside, careful to not disturb Kongie’s peaceful dreams, she reached out for her cellphone at the nightstand. Just a couple of touches on the screen later connect her with Sungyeon’s phone – the girl was always up, she doubt she would mind her late night call.

 ** _“Kang, hello. I just received the material, is there anything you want to change? We only have two days left.”_** Sungyeon’s voice sounded as nonchalant as ever, not even a hint of tiredness in it.

Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said about Kyungwon’s **. “Hey, Sungyeon. I’m sorry for calling so late.”** Her voice was husky as she spoke. **“And no, there’s not wrong with the chapter. I reviewed it with Siyeon yesterday and I did it again before sending it in.”** Actually she had lost count of the times she reread every line, checked every drawing, verified if they had made no mistakes regarding the plot…Working was the one thing she still had control over and she was putting her all into it.

 ** _“Then why the sudden call?”_** Bae was always straight forward, but there was a hint of something else in her voice. Concern perhaps? The brown haired woman almost sighed. All she did lately was to worry everyone around her.

Feeling her throat overly dry, she hesitate before speaking. Once she had done it, there was no turning back.

Kyungwon closed her eyes, remembering all the times she tried to look for love in Minkyung’s eyes and she could only find guilty and sorrow. She had seen the signals, every single one of them. She tried her best to ignore and pretend they weren’t there, but by doing it she only distance herself even more from her girl – it was even right to refer to her as such still? Her heart and body still responded all the same to Minkyung, but she knew that it was no longer truth for the brunette.

Their relationship was now only a waiting game. A silent competition for who would be the first to admit they have failed. She would be the losers either way.

 **“The story,”** The one short story she had put so much effort and love into. The one thing she had planned for so long. **“The one I asked you to insert at the ending of the physical volume…”** It was her fault, she shouldn’t have been so full of herself to the point of doing such a bold thing. It was her lesson. She clenched her free hand into a fist, kneading the sheets under it, trying to drain the tension of her body into that single spot. **“Just delete it. I sent something else, a comic strip to replace it.”**

 ** _“Delete it?”_** Sungyeon’s voice was hollow. **_“After all this time? You just want me to delete it?”_** Now the older girl could hear disappointment in her tone.

She clenched her fist even more, her nails going deep into the fabric.

**“Yes. Please do it for me.”**

**_“Are you sure, Kyungwon? I can postpone the date.”_** For the first she heard something that was close to pleading on the younger woman’s voice, as if this decision was also important to her. Sungyeon might not know her reasons, but she knew what that drawing meant to Kyungwon.

 **“I’m sure. I’m sorry, Sungyeon, but just this once do it for me.”** Her friend deserved a better explanation than this, Sungyeon had done so much for her and cheered her on in every step, even if only using her own grumpy way. However, she couldn’t bring herself to tell Bae what happened. At least not now.

A small sigh could be heard from the other side of the line. **_“Consider it done. I hope you don’t regret it.”_**

 **“Me too.”** She muttered, saying a quick goodbye before finishing the call.

Just like that, her wedding proposal had gone down the drain. It was the beginning of their ending.

Back in Seoul, a goddess who knew about it all and couldn’t do anything about, lowered her head in defeat. She had done all she could and yet it wasn’t enough.

 

 

* * *

* * *

#  **_Saturday_ **

 

 **Yaebin squinted her eyes,** completely focused on the important task ahead. She could feel the pressure on her growing as she looked from one fluff ball of fur colored orange to the other one, a white one this time. How was she supposed to choose?

Minkyung beside her, had to lean in, resting her hands on her knees to take a look inside the cage. **“They are cute.”** She said with her soft tone, one slender finger adventuring itself inside the cage through the bars to touch the soft fur of the closest kitten. She smiled as she watch the small cat purr, and glanced over to see her soulmate doing the same to the other animal. Yaebin looked adorable with a small smile on her face as she caressed the kitten, she looked relaxed and tense all at once.

Minky let out a light chuckle, leaving the cat to touch the dark haired woman’s face affectionately, her fingers undoing the frown on her forehead. She was getting more used to touching and comforting Yaebin, she was glad their awkward phase was gone. **“I know it’s hard to pick only one, but it’s been half an hour already.”** Subtly she pointed the cat shelter worker that was at the door looking a bit impatient. **“If you can’t pick one now, we can just go back another time after you have made your mind.”**

The younger woman glanced over Kim’s shoulder, noticing the worker and made a face. She had no idea it’s been so long since they had come inside to look at the cats up for adoption, although her heavy heart from staring so much at the little creatures should’ve been a sign of it. Kang knew it would be like this once she got to see the animals, after all she had think long before deciding to come get a pet of her own. Still, thinking about it didn’t prepare her for the heart ache of having to choose.

She had taken the day off, although Saturday was quite a busy day at the store, to come to the shelter. It was a pleasant surprise when the brunette offered to go with her. Having Minkyung with her was a good thing, the brunette didn’t say much, allowing her to take her time and make her own choices, giving her silent support.

She straighten her back, reaching out to squeeze her hand gently, giving her an apologetic look. **“I had lost track of time. Just give me a minute.”** She said only loud enough for Minky to hear and receiving a smile and a nod in return.

The orange kitten had caught her attention right away, making her remember another orange fluff ball she had met so many years ago. Lulu, Kyulkyung’s cat, wasn’t just a small fragile baby, it was a big – and fat – grown cat. She smiled remembering the first time she saw him and deciding she should take the orange kitten with her.

 

_Sitting at one of tables right outside of the school’s cafeteria, Yaebin jumped on her seat when a flustered Eunwoo sat by her side in a rush, not so subtly hiding behind Kang’s small frame._

**_“What in the world, Jung Nunu?!”_ ** _Yaebin almost choked on her food, eyes darting to meet her friend’s gaze. They had known each other for a couple of months now, living at the same dorm on campus and having a bunch of classes in common was only normal to get close. Eunwoo’s bright and funny personality attracted the shorter girl right away and they bonded just fine usually, however, sometimes Nunu weird ways were a bit too much even for her best friend._

 **_“Shiu! Just pretend you are eating your lunch like nothing happened, I’m trying to be low key right now.”_ ** _If there was something Eunwoo wasn’t, it was ‘low key’, and in that moment it couldn’t be different. The girl had her face bright red, thanks to the little exercise she just made – there was nothing she hated more than being forced to move around, no surprise she was the epitome of sedentary now. The girl was holding something, barely hiding it under her hoodie Yaebin was pretty sure it couldn’t possibly be something good._

_When the thing started **mewing** one minute later, just in time for Eunwoo’s signature sneeze, she changed her mind. It was definitely something good._

_Yaebin covered her mouth, trying to hide a laugh. Eunwoo really had a talent to get herself into trouble._

**_“How did you even get him…Her? Do you even know what it is?”_ ** _She asked as soon as she made sure no one was paying them attention. A small fluff being was peeking through Eunwoo’s collar, its cute orange head rubbing against the girl’s neck. The blonde hugged the cat a bit tighter, making sure it wouldn’t run away._

_Luckily for them, the teachers weren’t very fond of the campus cafeteria._

**_“I don’t know! It’s just Lulu! Is Lulu a boy or girl name?”_ ** _Eunwoo replied, whispering shouting as she frantically looked around. **“She just left me with it and run away.”**_

 **_“She?”_ ** _Yaebin rose her brows, curiosity shinning in her dark eyes._

 **_“The crazy cat girl!”_ ** _Eunwoo muttered grimacing, although Yaebin could tell she wasn’t really mad at the girl – after all you don’t simply look after someone else’s pet if you hate them. Especially someone like Eunwoo._

 **_“But you are allergic to cats.”_ ** _She pointed out calmly, her food long forgotten as she focused all her attention on the weird, yet adorable, duo seated beside her – the cat under Eunwoo’s hoodie made sure to mew once more, not wanting to be ignored by the girls._

 **_“I know!”_ ** _Now the girl seemed clearly distressed – her ten minutes as a cat mom have been quite rough on her. **“I told her, and you know what she told me?”**_

 **_“What?”_ ** _Yaebin leaned on her elbows, watching the slightly older girl with interest. However, Eunwoo didn’t get the chance of answering._

 **_“I told her my soulmate should be able to look after Lulu, since we will be family and all.”_ ** _A new, sweet and clear voice, said as its owner took a seat across the girls at the table. The girl, a foreigner exchange student who was in Yaebin’s sociology class, glanced at her own hand before continuing. **“Thank you for looking after him, Eunwoo. The inspector is kind of keeping an eye on me now, you know, dorm rules and stuff…”** The raven haired woman shrugged, the relaxed smile on her face didn’t wave not even slightly, showing her disregard for said rules. Kang didn’t know much about that girl – Kyulkyung was it her Korean name? – but all she could recall was that the classmate was an overly energetic, bright and easy going person considering how everyone seem to like her automatically. _

_She raised her eyebrows, looking from one girl to another. Yeah, these two being soulmates made perfect sense._

**_“Look here, Ju Kyulkyung, you can’t simply leave him with me whenever it pleases you!”_ ** _Nunu returned with a huff, however she was still holding the cat with excessive care._

_Lulu mewed, aware of his owner presence and the dark haired girl stood up to take him out of Eunwoo’s hoodie with surprisingly skilled movements – Yaebin wondered how often she hid the cat under people’s clothes._

**_“Don’t worry, I will give you a heads up before dropping him off at your place, okay?”_ ** _Kyul hugged the cat affectionately, kissing his head before giving Jung her best smile – and it was surely effective._

_Eunwoo blinked twice, a light shade of pink coloring her cheeks. **“You better!”**_

**_“Oh! I should get going, I have to take him home before class. See you around, soulmate! And you too, soulmate’s friend!”_ ** _She waved energetically, leaning in to kiss Eunwoo’s cheek loudly before leaving with quick steps._

_The scene was too hilarious for Yaebin keep her composure and she couldn’t help but laugh at Nunu’s red face – the girl had her hand over her own cheek, her expression a mix of shock and glee._

**_“She sees me twice a week in class and I’m still only ‘soulmate’s friend’?”_ ** _Yaebin shook her head, amused by the girl’s quirk personality._

 **_“Is it normal for your soulmate to simply leave her cat with you on your first meeting?”_ ** _Eunwoo asked, sneezing as she tried her best to get rid of the cat fur on her clothes._

 **_“Honestly? It fits just right with what I would expect from your soulmate.”_ ** _Everyone always dreams about their fated meeting with their soulmate, and Eunwoo’s couldn’t happen in a more unique and so fitting to her._

 **_“Ei! What is this supposed to mean?”_ ** _Jung finally let go of her cheek, nudging Yaebin’s arm lightly what just made the shorter laugh._

 **_“I’m just happy for you. You deserve a nice and pretty girl like that.”_ ** _It was true. Even if she couldn’t find her soulmate, she was glad her friend was able to do so._

 **_“She is a weirdo though.”_ ** _Nunu said, a smile gracing her face as she hugged Yaebin by the waist, resting her head on her shoulder. **“You’ll have your turn soon, Yaebs. And I bet she won’t even be a crazy cat lady.”**_

 **_“I hope so.”_ ** _Yaebin rested her head on Nunu’s. **“But until then we should get you some antihisminics, I have a feeling you will need a lot of it.”**_

 

 **“I’ll be taking the little orange one.”** She said, this time louder enough for the shelter worker hear her. **“…And the white one as well!”** The young nodded in approval, approaching to check on the animals before proceeding with the paper work.

Minkyung gave her a warm smile. **“Good thing I came then. I’ll help you take them home.”** Yaebin smiled as well, containing her childish excitement at the idea of taking both adorable creatures home in the company of another equally adorable – but much bigger – creature. She hugged Minky briefly, letting out a small giggle. **“I’ll need help to buy everything for them as well.”**

Two kittens would probably be a lot of work, but Yaebin felt she was making the right decision. Kyul would have approved it.

 

 

* * *

 

It was the first time Minkyung was at Yaebin’s place, and she couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward seating there. At first they had been distract playing with the kittens, but Yaebin was trying to be a good ‘mom’ and went to put them to sleep in a bed in her room. Her eyes darted through the place, curious about the little details it could tell about its owner. It was no surprise how neat the young woman was, the place was decorated in cool colors and everything seem to have a proper place, making the room seem spacious but not giving the feeling of emptiness – she had good taste. While Minkyung herself had plenty of family pictures exposed, Kang wasn’t as obvious, only a family portrait by the phone table.

Yaebin must have noticed her gaze because she grabbed the frame and handed it to the Kim. **“You can look. We don’t take as many pictures now, so you won’t have much to see anyway.”** There was something off about the apparently nonchalant tone of her voice and Minky nodded ever so slightly, accepting the frame to take a better look at the picture.

There were only four people on it, all of them smiling happily at the camera. A younger version of Yaebin was hugging a man that shared some of her features making it rather obvious it was her dad, beside them a young boy, her little brother most likely, hugged a beautiful woman that was probably Yaebin’s mom. They seem like a good family, even by just looking at the picture she could tell that there was much love. She had never seen Yaebin smile this wide before.

Now that she stopped to think about it, she didn’t recall Yaebin ever mentioning her father before except for the one time she told Minkyung the reason why her mark was a little snowmen out of all things – she said it was because she had always been very susceptible to the cold, however she still loved making snowmen in the winter with her dad and it was a very dear memory to her. She had a very nostalgic look on her face that day, but she had changed topics before Kim could ask her about it.

Minkyung looked over to see the girl’s back, she was at the kitchen getting them some drinks. The raven haired woman was small, albeit she usually looked so mature and reliable that it was hard to sport her fragile side. Maybe because she was at her house now, intruding her personal space and her memories, she felt like Yaebin was more vulnerable than ever before. With a final look to the picture frame, she put it back in place and went in to help the girl out.

Kang flinched when she heard Minkyung’s soft steps approaching and her slender hands reaching out and take the tray out of her hands. **“You don’t need to…”**

 **“You are really into that health stuff, aren’t you**?” The older disregarded her protests, proceeding to walk back to the living room with the drinks. **“I noticed it before. Besides the coffee, you don’t eat or drink anything that isn’t appropriate.”**

Yaebin blinked, taken aback by Minky’s surprisingly observing ways. She had no idea the other payed her that much attention. Eunwoo usually complained about her overly strict diet, however Kim didn’t seem judgmental about it, only curious.

 **“Hm, yeah. My mother was very strict about what we should or shouldn’t put in our body. She is also very big on physical activity and stuff.”** She explained gesturing to the picture Minkyung had seen earlier, before pointing out the natural green juice that she had filled the cups with. **“You don’t have to drink it if you don’t want. I can get you something else.”** She had a bunch of junk food just in case Nunu decided to stop by, what fortunately hadn’t happen this week or she wouldn’t have anything left now.

Minkyung just shook her head in reply, taking a sip of the liquid with a thoughtful expression that seem a bit too serious for just be related to the drink. Yaebin took a place on the couch beside her and quietly started to drink as well.

 **“Your mom…She seems like an interesting person. But you don’t mention her often.”** The brunette’s tone was careful, as if she was testing the waters before asking what she really wanted. The smaller girl nodded, trying to keep the tension out of her face. Family was a difficult topic for her, albeit she had shared some information with Minky already, to talk about her parents was something completely different.

 **“She is one of a kind.”** It wasn’t Yaebin’s intention to sound dry and defensive, but it still sounded like it and she regretted as soon as the words left her mouth. She didn’t want misunderstands. Her mother might not be in her best state of mind and cause a lot of trouble, but she was still her mother and she loved her still. **“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. My mother is just…She is all over the place most of the time. She has been like this ever since we lost dad, I was only a middle schooler by then.”** She decided that being honest was the best option. Minkyung was her soulmate, she was supposed to be able to trust and rely on her.

 **“Oh! I’m so sorry, Yaebin. You don’t have to say anything, I can’t even imagine how it is…”** Minkyung looked genuinely concerned now, brown eyes full of worry and even a bit of guilty for having mentioned the sensitive subject.

Yaebin gave her a small smile, to assure her that it was fine. Putting down the glass, she continued. **“Mom always lived for the family. But she was less…Intense before, more normal I guess. She had her own things and always looked like the most beautiful woman around with her pretty clothes and accessories that she would craft herself…She used to insist on having family picnics and stuff every weekend, like we were living in some old fashioned TV show.”** Her smile grew fond at the memories. It was amazing that even all the pain couldn’t erase the good moment they spent together, although they seem a bit bittersweet now.

 **“Dad passed away suddenly and it broke her heart…and our family too.”** Yaebin grimaced, the smile disappearing as the nice memories gave place to unpleasant ones. **“She couldn’t accept it and became overly protective of us, paranoid about everything and everyone…Grandma had to intervene and that’s why we moved in with her.”**

 **“So, the reason you moved away was because…I’m so sorry, Yaebin!”** Minkyung’s tone was weak, almost heartbroken. She thought she had a hard time waiting for her soulmate to show up back then, but the truth was that Yaebin went through much more than just being frustrated for nothing having a girlfriend…Her concerns seem small and futile in comparison.

 **“It was hard. Adapting to everything and just…You know, I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around it all and I was always going back and forth between trying to move on with my life and refuse to do it because I didn’t want to forget how things were before. I didn’t want to pretend dad not being there was fine.”** She sighed, a small, yet sharp pain tucking her heart at the memories. They say it takes a while for one to reach the state of acceptance, for her it took some years, for her mother it never quite happened **. “I used to wish you were beside me. It was childish, but I thought that having my soulmate around would automatically make things better.”** She gave Minky a shaky smile that was almost apologetic for her own naivetés. **“But then you didn’t come around and I started to think it was for the best since I didn’t want to end up like mom if I ever lost you.”**

She expected an uncomfortable silence to take over, like it would always happen when you talk about something so personal. But instead she felt Minkyung’s soft, elegant hands taking hold of hers.

 **“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. I can’t imagine how you felt, nor I can say that my presence would’ve fixed it all, but I’d have tried my best to make you feel better.”** Her tone was filled with sincerity, without any hesitation as her gaze found its way to Yaebin’s face. **“I’m sorry for making you wait so much.”** The words came naturally, as if comforting the young Kang was only natural to her. She didn’t think much, or at all, she just wanted Yaebin to feel safe and happy, and her heart was beating loudly at her ears, telling her that she was the only one capable of making it happen. **“I’m not going anywhere.”**

Yaebin looked back at Minky, drowning on the beautiful pools of chestnut that were her eyes, adoring how gentle and kind, and ridiculously fond they were. Maybe it was only the soul mark acting, prompting the Kim to feel things she didn’t really fell, forcing a connection so strong that none of them could deny. However, she didn’t mind it, not now at least. She missed it, missed this kind of affection and love she never had the opportunity of experience. Minkyung could not be entirely hers, but she was still her soulmate and only for once, she wanted to allow herself to embrace it.

Letting go of her hands, Yaebin hugged her instead. Tight and warm, filled with Minkyung’s jasmine scent that seem to fill her lungs, mind and heart all at the same time. Her head resting against her shoulders, arms around the older girl’s torso like it was the place they were supposed to be. She was a clingy person by nature, although this tendency was hidden under the cynical views on love, she couldn’t really hide it any more.

It was their first real hug and it lasted way more than it should, full of a need both girls weren’t ready to admit to themselves just yet.

When they finally broke apart, with small, unsure smiles on their faces, they just stared at each other for a moment until finally were back to their original positions. Both could still feel the warmth of the contact, wishing it could last for a long time, but still fully aware that this embrace wouldn’t be their last one.

That night, when Minkyung waved Yaebin goodbye, the soul mark in her palm was brighter than ever – outshining the ring on her finger, the same ring Minkyung hadn’t touch all night. As the brunette walked away, the ring started to slowly slid down her finger.

 

 

* * *

 

 **“That’s why you are my favorite boss. You always pay in me in time and gives me food!”** Siyeon had the biggest smile on her face, holding onto her chocolate bar like a creepy – at least to Kyungwon’s tired eyes, as she weakly pushed the girl aside, taking a sit on the couch as well.

 **“I’m literally your only boss.”** Kang said, rolling her eyes at her friend’s antics.

She had just came back from her hometown, a two-hour long trip that seem much longer than usual. Heading home would be the normal thing to do, but she was feeling tired not only physically, but also mentally and she needed just a bit more of time to herself. Paying Siyeon a little visit was her way to prepare herself to face Minkyung – or, if she was more honest, wait a bit to see if she could go home only after her girlfriend was already asleep.

 **“Still is a good thing to be someone’s favorite.”** The young raven shrugged, taking a bite on her chocolate and offering Kyungwon to do the same.

 **“I suppose it is.”** Kyungwon said in a quiet voice, shaking her head slowly. She contained a sigh, telling herself to leave her own troubles aside for a moment. **“How is graduation planning going?”**

 **“Cut if off, _unnie_. You didn’t come here looking like a zombie just to act like my mom and ask about what I plan on doing in the future.” **Park made a face, her dark eyes meeting Kyungwon’s as she stared attentively at the older woman. Siyeon might be young, but she was never naïve, nor oblivious, particularly regarding her friend. **“I thought you were going to visit your parents for the weekend, why are you back here already?”**

Kyungwon sighed. She should’ve visit someone else.

 **“I did. But I had to come back to solve some…Stuff. I don’t think I can delay it anymore.”** Unwilling she answered, receiving a curious and worried look in return.

**“What kind of stuff? I thought you said the story would be on hiatus for a while…Is it about Minkyung _unnie_?”**

The brunette ran her hands through her shoulder length hair, feeling more frustrated than anything else now. She knew talking to someone could help, but it wasn’t like anyone, not even herself, could fix things. She tried to shard to deal with things in the best way possible, still she couldn’t do much.

 **“You know how the lead character always has a girlfriend in the beginning of a movie and they eventually break up because, of course, the lead has to end up with the other main character? And no one really cares about the girlfriend because we already know it wouldn’t work out?”** She said quickly, her words coming in a rush.

Siyeon looked from Kyungwon to the television where an old romantic movie was playing, before looking back at the girl. She raised her eyebrows, waiting for the elder to continue.

**“Do you think it’s the girlfriend’s fault for trying to be with someone that wasn’t meant for her?”**

The raven blinked, confused with the sudden turn of their conversation. **“Okay, _unnie_. I have no idea of what you talking about!”**

The taller woman just sighed, sinking further into the couch. Her non sense rant wasn’t taking them anywhere.

 **“What I mean is that it sucks really bad when you find out too late you were never the main character of your own love story to begin with.”** She took a sip of the soda Siyeon had given her earlier, putting it aside **. “Minkyung has a soulmate. I don’t.”** Her tone was dry, forcefully indifferent as she tried to distance herself from the problem – and failed.

 **“A-a soulmate?!”** It took the younger girl a whole minute before she could break into curses as she finally understood what was going on. Kyungwon didn’t join her rant, albeit she didn’t seem bothered by the language. Siyeon was a simple person, she didn’t bottle up her fillings inside, she let them flow freely or else she would die with all this stuck in her chest. She could only envy her for this.

 **“But Minkyung _unnie_ is with you! How can she do it to you after all these years, for fu…”** Park said, a new line of curses coming out of her mouth as if she was the one going trough this whole ordeal. A bit too hot headed, but definitely a good friend.

 **“It’s not her fault.”** Kang cut off, her voice heavy just like her chest filled with pain. Playing the blame game wouldn’t do her any good and the least thing she wanted was to turn her sadness into grudge against someone she loved so much – or used to, now using such word to describe her feelings for Minkyung didn’t sound quite right, almost like she didn’t have the right of doing so anymore. **“I can’t even be mad at her for this. It’s killing me.”**

Siyeon shut her mouth, refraining from cursing. She didn’t want to upset Kyungwon any more than she already was. It was just hard to keep it all. Minkyung wasn’t a bad person, this much she knew, however she also only met the girl because of her friend and she never was having a hard time imagining a scenario where these two weren’t together. When she met Kyungwon some years ago, they had bonded pretty fast and she was almost like the elder sister she never got – and if her sister was getting dumped by some girl she was more than ready to throw hands at the said girl. But she couldn’t. Therefore she only hugged the taller woman. **“So I guess this is the reason why you didn’t want to work at your house. When did it happen?”**

With a nod, Kang only hugged her back. Being so distraught all the time while keeping a good attitude wasn’t nice, and sometimes she wished she could just curse it out like Siyeon. Maybe after it all ended she would take a whole day to curse fate, love, the whole soulmates bullcrap and her own self for being such a weak fool.

 **“Over a month ago, she met a woman at a bookstore that is actually very close to out house... At first I tried to deal with it and be supportive, but as the time goes by I…Things are just getting worse.”** She pulled back, breaking the hug to face her junior.  She knew she could count on Park for anything, they were close enough for her to be honest. Telling people about it was the hardest part, having to face them and see as their face changed into a mix of pity and hopelessness, telling her silently that they all already knew how it ends and she should accept it as well. Siyeon wasn’t a common person though, she still looked rather annoyed by it all and it was almost funny how ready she was to protect Kyungwon from the world. **“I saw them together. There was nothing going on, but still I could…Feel. I felt like they had a connection, like they were in their own little bubble of whatever that is.”** _Love_ would have been the right word. That one thing that Minkyung didn’t seem to feel for her anymore, but would pour out from her eyes when she sees Yaebin.

Siyeon clenched her jaw, refraining from cursing again or saying something she would regret later. **“That fucking sucks.”** Okay, maybe she wasn’t the best of keeping her thoughts to herself. But at least she kept things real. **“And what are you going to do about it? This is the reason why you came over, right?”**

Then again the older girl nodded, taking a couple of deep breaths. **“I’ll just do what I think is the right thing for all of us.”** Her voice was quiet, lacking the confidence she wished was still there. **“I’ll need your help. Are you free next week?”**

Although the younger girl had no idea what she was about to agree on, she didn’t even bat an eye. **“I’m always free. Just tell me what you have in mind!”**

And so Kyungwon did. She told her everything and by the end of it Siyeon was grimacing. **“Can’t say I agree on it completely, but I guess it’s your call.”**

**“It is. Thanks, Siyeonie.”**

 

 

* * *

 

It was late, even late for her current standards. Therefore, she tiptoed, leaving her stuff on the studio and taking a moment to consider the idea of sleeping there, but her tired body demanded her to go and find her comfortable bed. The lights were off in the room, as expected, but she was still able to guide herself only with the dim light of the moon coming through the window. Grabbing some comfy clothes, she went to the bathroom for a quick shower that hopefully wouldn’t be able to interrupt Minkyung’s calm sleep – she had tried her best to not pay attention to the girl, but it was impossible to not notice the gentle fragrance of her hair in the air or the lump under the thick blanket on the bed.

Kyungwon changed into her clean clothes, turning off the bathroom lights before exiting and proceeding to approach her side of the bed, climbing carefully to not disturb her girlfriend. Before all the marks thing happened, she would have been careful simply because she didn’t want to wake Minkyung up knowing she needed her sleep after a long week of work, now, however, her excessive care was due the fear of waking up the girl just to face that horrible tension that always filled the air lately.

It wasn’t like her to stay out until so late, not even for work, she would always try to come home in time to see Minky and talk to her properly. Although it wasn’t like this anymore. It was cowardly of her to keep hiding and pretending to be busier than she really was just to avoid meeting the one person that meant so much for her – it was ironic, really, that her fear of losing Minkyung was keeping her away of the girl. Far from sight, far from the heart? A joke. Her heart ached all day, missing her so much and wishing. She was wanted to see, touch and keep Minky as close as possible.

Just for once, she wanted to lay beside her girl and pretend everything was fine.

Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, allowing her to discern Kim’s beautiful features from the pile of fluff blankets she was wrapped on. Kyungwon mirrored her pose, laying her head on the pillow and watching as the slightly older girl slept peacefully. In the quietness of the room, with only their breaths filling the air, for once everything seem okay and she could allow herself to smile.

She reached out, hesitantly, to touch her girl’s face. However, she stopped midway as she noticed the smile on Minkyung’s face – a smile that she hadn’t seen in such long time. She retracted her hand, averting her gaze. Whatever Minky was dreaming off, was able to make her happier than Kyungwon seem to be lately. Now, every time she faced her girlfriend, she could only sorrow and a melancholy that was so unlike the Kim. She didn’t wanted to risk waking her up and having to face it now.

So she just lay in the bed, chest heavy with the weight of so many emotions and eyes burning with tears she would never allow herself to release. Her gaze fixed into the ceiling, noticing every little detail as if concentrating on the architecture of the house would allow her to distract herself from her inner conflicts – it didn’t. She could still hear Minkyung’s soft breaths, feel the warmth that came from her but seem to little to warm Kyungwon’s broken heart.

She would never be able to ignore Minkyung completely, block her out of her heart and mind. Nevertheless, she was destiny to be cut off her life soon and this was something they both would have to acknowledge eventually.

She raised her left hand, turning it slightly to allow her to see the clean palm where a mark was most likely never appearing. With her other hand, she traced the natural patterns of it, feeling the smooth skin that lacked the magic the rest of the world seem to possess. How pathetic of her, to have ever thought that her will and love would be enough to defeat fate.

 

_Minkyung had her left hand raised against the sun light, her pretty eyes squinting due to the clarity. Kyungwon giggled, raising her own hand to allow them to compare their bare palms that seem so alike, both clear of any special marks. **“What? Do you think that stare at it will magically gift you a mark?”** She scoffed, reaching to grab the girl’s hand, bringing it down to her chest as she intertwined their fingers._

**_“I just wished we had ours as well. Not having is a bit...Unsettling.”_ ** _The slightly older girl spoke, her tone carrying the kind of concern that a college student shouldn’t have. Kyungwon knew all too well her reasons, and if she was honest she had to admit it also bothered her, albeit, different of Minkyung, she would rather to not think about it at all and just be optimistic._

_The brown haired girl smiled fondly, sliding a bit closer to the other woman, not minding that the grass underneath them was probably leaving a mark on her clothes. **“I told you to not worry. I’m here, so you won’t end up as a cat lady.”** The tease in her voice wasn’t the usual one, her tone was more warm and gentle, making it clear she was just trying to reassure._

_Minkyung scrunched her nose, making a face and shoving her shoulder against the Kang’s, although she didn’t make any effort to break the hold the other still had on her hand. **“I didn’t say I wanted a mark with your name on it.”** The bold reply, delivered with a dazzling smirk only brought a light chuckle out of the younger girl. _

_Kyungwon didn’t believe her, not in the slightly. Not when Minky’s thumb was still caressing the back of her hand softly, not when her brown eyes were staring at her loving. Even if Minky was able to pretend a little better, she would still not believe it, because she knew the taller girl and she knew exactly how she felt. And she knew it was the same for the Kim, that’s why she leaned in to say mischievously. **“Good thing, because you know how much I love to greet the freshmen and I have a good feeling about the new ones, so…”**_

_Another shove, this time a little harder. **“Shut it, Kang!”**_

_Another chuckle, even louder this time, as Kyungwon pulled Minkyung closer so she could kiss her face. Kim grimaced, but didn’t try to free herself of Kyungwon’s hold. The brown haired student left small kisses on the tip of Minky’s nose, on her fluff cheeks and even on her forehead, prompting a smile into the girl’s face. **“Don’t worry, no one will steal me away.”** She reassured, returning the smile as she sealed her lips into Minkyung’s soft ones._

_They weren’t dating, not officially at least, but she could already tell it would last. She was only fourteen when she met Minkyung, and only a couple of months older when she started to realize their friendship wasn’t ordinary, nor were her feelings. Kang couldn’t help but notice even the smallest things about her, even finding her annoying perfectionist ways and her clumsiness weirdly endearing. As they grow closer and older, she learned to appreciate deeper aspects of Minky’s personality, like her thoughtfulness and excessive care, her little insecurities and the moments where she would dodge herself behind Kyungwon and rely completely on her albeit she was always far better than the younger girl in pretty much everything. She learned how to look after the Kim, how to listen and care for her in the same way Minky did to her. Most of all, she learned how to love Minkyung with her whole heart._

_Having to wait every anniversary, hoping that destiny put them together only to have her hopes shattered was painful. To not have a soul mark was nowhere near as painful as to know that she would never be Minkyung’s soulmate. Every new person they met, every new place they went, it was always hard to ignore the fear of meeting the right person when her heart was already filled by the wrong one. But as the time passed, and more people came and go from their lives, unable to affect their bond or to mark their souls, she started to grow hopeful that maybe they had a chance._

_Now, she decided to take her destiny into her own hands._

_They didn’t need a stupid mark to tell them what to do, just each other and what they felt._

_Minky was already twenty one, she would turn the same age in just a couple of months. They had waited long enough, concealing their true feelings to stay faithful to someone they didn’t even knew if really existed, and nothing had happened. It was about time to let go of the soulmate illusion and live their lives as they really wanted._

_Her smile became smaller, her dark eyes growing solemn. It wasn’t like her to be serious, especially around Minkyung with whom she felt so comfortable to be who she really was, however, exactly for this reason she didn’t need to hesitate before exposing her feelings. **“I mean it. I’ll always love you the most, we may not have soulmate mark, but you are still inside my heart where it matters the most.”** She said in a small voice that was only for Minky’s ears, leaving a gentle kiss on her forehead. **“You are my one and only girl, just remember that.”**_

_The brunette didn’t answer, not with words at least, she just looked at her with the most sweet, loving eyes, closing the small distance between them to kiss her passionately. Kyungwon kissed her back, hugging her tight, a smile plastered on her face once more. She could feel all the love and care, just like the sudden rush of excitation of being in love and to know it was mutual._

**_“Oh my god! Unnies!”_ ** _Yewon’s voice, usually chirp and clear, was a bit too high, probably due to the shock of seeing them so close. The girls broke apart, Minkyung with a flustered smile, while Kyungwon shamelessly laugh at the two embarrassed Kims. They had a lot of explanations to give, but she would let Minky deal with it. She back hugged the girl, her heart swollen with love as she silently supported Minkyung._

_Kyungwon was young and maybe a bit naive still, but of one thing she was sure, and this thing was that Minkyung was the one for her._

 

She figured out a little too late that it was only true for her.

Minkyung moved in her sleep, taking her away off her bittersweet memories. Kim scrunched her nose adorably, letting out an annoyed sigh as she reached to try and grab something – Kyungwon thought for a moment that she would scoot closer and cuddle beside her like she used to do, but the older girl simply flapped her arm for a moment, before the smile from before appeared again and she went quiet.

A shaky smile made its way to Kang’s face, making her cover her mouth to prevent a nervous laugh. Even the smallest things were enough to shake her, breaking through the strong mentality she thought she had. The brown haired woman stood up, heading back to the bathroom in the hopes she could find Minkyung’s sleeping pills. 

 

 

* * *

* * *

#  **_Sunday_ **

 

When she had set up this little home office, it never occurred her that it would become her safe place in the house when she was avoiding Minkyung’s presence – probably because she never thought she would need one. Today she was getting ready to say goodbye to it as well. Kyungwon wondered if she had tried harder, if she had just forgot about her damn manhwa for once and stop hiding, if she didn’t try to play the noble idiot and simply clingy onto Minkyung…Think about it all wouldn’t change a thing. Regret her own actions was as foolish as making them, but she couldn’t help it.

Sitting down by her working table, she opened the notebook where she had started listing some things during her trip back home. Being objective and rational wasn’t her stuff, it was more like Minky. However, she needed to be like this in order to do what she had to. Carefully she listed everything she would need to get from the place, drawing little marking boxes beside each item that she was supposed to check as soon as she had packed the said item.  She also had another, a much smaller check list, for everything she had to do about her personal life. It was almost funny that she could only bring herself to be organized under such circumstances.

While Minkyung was all about work and keep herself grounded. Kyungwon always faced her job as a way to accomplish her dreams. It was never her intention to become crazy rich or famous, she just wanted to afford a comfortable life doing what she loved. Their small, cozy house, filled with good memories was one of her favorite places in the world, yet she had planned to move into a bigger one of their own, where they could bring Kongie to come live with them and start their own family. Working had then become a much serious matter as she saw in it the chance of saving money for their next step in life – and she did succeed, she had much more than she ever expected as the webtoon became more popular, the beautiful ring on the drawer was only the beginning. A beginning that soon turned into a premature ending.

She would need to make a third list to figure out what she was supposed to do after it all ended. Whatever way it did.

With a deep sigh, she stood up to start packing her work stuff and label everything. She would deal with the most painful, delicate, things later. Like deciding whether or not she would even bother taking that ring with her.

Kang made sure that everything was done as fast and fluid as possible, remembering how mad Kim would get when she finds the place a mess after one of Kyungwon’s creative drawing sessions. She even gathered some stuff she had left hanging around the other rooms of the house, making sure she didn’t touch anything that Minky might consider important or notice right away – it was dumb, she wasn’t supposed to care so much when she was about to end it. Yet here she was, too afraid to even step in their bedroom to check if she forgotten anything, too afraid being there would bring out more memories and make her go back on her decisions. So she didn’t go there, nor she looked at the pictures on the walls, not even the little ornaments Minkyung had got from a market once.

After having everything ready, taking only a quick break to eat some of her favorite ramen that tasted like cardboard for some reason, she gathered the courage to finally proceed with the second part of her duties for today. A small notebook, two paper sheets folded, the ring’s box, everything on the desk as she watched the items carefully. The first two things were easy – or not so much, but at least she knew what to do with them – however, the ring…She had to make a decision. Throw it away wasn’t an option, not a fair one at least. Therefore she only had to decide whether she would keep it with her or give it to Minkyung.

Gently she opened the box, giving the ring a final, detailed look. It was pretty, delicate and elegant – it was perfect for Minky. She wondered if her girlfriend had ever sneaked a peek at it when she wasn’t looking, it was possible since Kyungwon had never been the best at hiding anything from her. The brunette wished she had asked her about it, or even been bold enough to propose, like this she would at least have the memory of Kim’s reaction to the gift.

A weak, shaky smile appeared on her face as she slipped the ring right back into her backpack. She had made her decision.

Kyungwon silently prayed she could make it without showing how broke on the inside she was. She would have enough time to cry her pains, only not today.

It was time to continue with the plan.

 

 

* * *

 

Yaebin should’ve know it was bound to happen, sooner or later her mom would do something questionable again and demand her attention. It was a Sunday out of the days, and the store was only open for a couple of hours, still it was the most stressful day of the week for her. Although she didn’t expect it to be now. She had quite a tough morning at work, a migraine installed on her temples as she tried her best to set all the paper work her mom had sent her way last minute.

The young brunette tried to limit her mother's expenses, to keep her away of the business and distracted with only her shopping sprees that would always coast Yaebin a couple of hundred dollars. Nevertheless, the woman never listened to her. She would have her sudden burst, buying anything she thought could be ‘helpful’ at the thousands and would always leave it up to her daughter to deal with the aftermath. As for today, she had bought new furniture to the shop – more specifically bad quality furniture that was sold for a much higher price than it was really worth and Yaebin would have to press hard on the sellers and menace them with a legal action to get her money back. Like always, she had to keep tabs on her mother’s actions at all times and it was starting to get tiring.

The first years without her father weren’t easy, and even now they still felt the weight of his absence, therefore the dark haired woman would always try her best to be understanding regarding her mom’s feelings. Albeit it was becoming harder and harder. She was getting sick and tired of the way the elder would just go around doing whatever, ignoring her requests and leaving her to deal with all the trouble. It was a test of her patient and love to not snap at her mom and call her out for her irresponsibility. It wasn’t for the chances of an emergency happening, she would have cut off all her credit cards by now.

The small Kang felt her energy disappearing by the end of the morning, having finished yet another call with the credit card operator, making sure she wouldn’t have to face any unpleasant surprises. She decided to call it a day, trying to think about her kittens back at home and how happy they would be for seeing her again – the thought was comforting enough to bring her a little bit of peace for a second. It didn’t last long though.

Her jacket was just over her right arm when the telephone ringed, insistently. She grimaced, fixing her clothes before picking up the call, ready to deal with another scammer her mom had met somewhere shady. **“Hello?”**

The voice that answered on the other side of the line was very formal and dry, almost robotic like. **“Kang Yaebin? Are you a family member of Hong Gwang Min? She is at the Central Hospital and we found this number on her contact list.”**

Yaebin pressed the phone against her ear a bit harder, feeling a sudden influx of tension running through her body. A hospital? Her mother was healthy, her obsession to keep a good life style  should guarantee her this much, right? But still there were many other things that could lead her to a hospital and none of them seem good. **“Yes, I’m. Is she fine? What happened?”**

 **“She was involved in a car accident, but she is stable now. You need to come and fill up the paper work for more information.”** The woman also gave her an address, what wasn’t really necessary since she knew where the hospital was located already.

She finished the call in a hurry. She had no idea what “stable” really meant, although it sounded like a good thing, the nurses dead tone wasn’t giving her any hints and she wouldn’t be able to rest until she saw her mother for herself. Getting her bag, she was ready to dash out of office when Minkyung’s head pop out on the door, giving her a worried look. **“Yaebin? Yooa told me you were over here…Is everything okay?”**

She didn’t even hesitate and hugged the woman, her heart clenching in her chest at the sight of the girl. Having Minky around would never fail to bring her some comfort. **“I’m not sure. Can you come with me? Please?”**

The taller brunette hugged her tight, as if she could feel Kang’s distress and perhaps she really could. Their bond was getting stronger and they were learning to rely on each other, so much that it only seem natural to the Kim to nod positively. **“Of course. Where are we going? I’ll get us a cab.”**

Yaebin still felt a bit out of it, but keep a tight grip on Minkyung’s hand she was able to tell her the address and give a quick explanation of the situation. As expected, the older girl didn’t waste time asking foolish questions and just did as she promised, and in no time they were heading to the hospital.

 **“It will fine, I’m sure. They wouldn’t have said she is stable if there was any risks.”** At least Minkyung hoped so as she tried to comfort her soulmate. Yaebin was always so calm and collect, always in control of everything, that it was rather heartbreaking to see her so distressed about something. Minky hugged her by the shoulders, her eyes never leaving the girl’s face as she tried to reassure her while silently praying that her words wouldn’t just turn out to be gentle lies. **“We will be there soon.”**

Pressing her hands tight together, holding the cellphone she had used to try and reach her mom earlier just to not get any answers, Yaebin kept her gaze fixed on them, unable to return Minky’s embrace as she felt the nervousness taking over her. The closer they got to the hospital, the more unsettling memories insisted on tempering her mind, making it almost impossible to keep her cool. She hadn’t been with her dad when it happened, she didn’t even got the chance of seen him at the hospital, only at the funeral home. She was afraid of going there just to figure out she would have to take her mother to a similar place.

However, for some weird reason, the one memory that kept haunting her didn’t have anything to do with her dad. It was the one other big and painful event in her life.

 

_It was a lazy Sunday at the dorms. Yaebin was going through the TV channels, hoping she would find something that wouldn’t make her sleepy. Eunwoo, on the other hand, had given up already, laying her head on Kang’s legs and barely keeping her eyes open.  
**“I hate waking up early.”** She muttering, hugging Yaebin’s knees to try to find a more comfortable position. _

_Leaving the remote aside for a moment, the dark haired girl pushed her friend playfully. **“Get off.”** Of course Nunu didn’t, it would take much more to make her move. **“You had to wake up anyway, or would you rather to not have driven Kyul to the airport? You nearly flooded the place, if you did it here we would’ve to buy new furniture.”** She gesture the couch they were currently laying on and the other objects in the room, receiving only a snort as a reply._

_Nunu was a bit grumpy in the moment, what was her way to hide her cry baby face. School break was around the corner and soon they would be off to visit their own families, however Kyulkyung had travelled a bit earlier to her home country and Eunwoo was handling it as expected – badly. The girl had met just a couple of months ago, but being soulmates it was no surprise they had grown so attached even in this small time frame. Jung being the soft hearted girl she was, to stay away of her soulmate was pretty hard. Therefore Yaebin decided to cut her some slack and gave up on expelling the girl from her lap._

**_“Do want grab something to eat?”_ ** _She asked instead, combing her fingers through Nunu’s soft light hair – she wouldn’t usually, the girl would fall asleep pretty soon if she did this, but food was Jung’s weak spot and not even sleep got anything on it._

**_“Can we please get pizza this time? I’ve coupons and…”_ **

**_“I also have coupons for a better place. We can’t always order pizza!”_ **

_Normally this conversation would’ve gone for at least ten minutes until they found a middle ground and decided on what ordering. Unfortunately, that day wasn’t a normal one._

_“Emergency report!” The news anchor on the TV interrupted them, the woman had a sober tone to her voice and there were various bubbles of information popping on the screen as she spoke. The red label on the bottom of the screen had written in big letter ‘PLANE TO CHINA CRASHES INTO THE OCEAN!’. Yaebin felt a sudden numbing sensation to her fingers as Eunwoo shoot up, her small eyes growing larger as she watched with attention. “Sources say a commercial airplane leaving Seoul and heading to Hong Kong has crashed and is still missing! The company hasn’t given an official statement yet, however the chances are that the plan had a malfunction and fell on the ocean. We’ll be informing as new information is…”_

_For a moment, both girls just stared at the screen, having a hard time comprehending what the news really meant. They had left Kyulkyung at the airport just a couple of hours before, it couldn’t possibly be her flight, could it? That weird feeling in her hands was slowly spreading through her body, a numbing sensation that made it hard to discern reality from a bad nightmare. Clumsily, she fished her phone out of her pocket to try and check Kyul’s flight number._

_Eunwoo was still in front of the TV, her breath becoming harder by the second as she felt her heart thumbing in her ears. **“It…It can’t be…Kyul…This can’t be!”** She held on her own left hand, finding comforting on the mark that was still there – it would become faint with time, but she couldn’t possibly know that yet. She turned off the television, as if not watching the news could protect her from the reality of what was happening. _

**_“Airplane crashes are so fucking rare! What are the chances of her being there? None! She is not! I’m sure, she will call me soon to say she arrived safely like she always does!”_ ** _She said to no one in specific, it was more of a rant to herself. Following Yaebin’s example she got her phone and made the call, receiving only an electronic response as a reply. A nervous, hysterical laugh left her lips. **“See? It’s in airplane mode! She can’t pick up, I told you!”** Now she was shouting at Yaebin, her victorious tone being menaced by the sudden tears that were starting to fall out of her eyes before she could do anything to prevent it._

_Kang shut her eyes close, biting down on her bottom lip to prevent her own tears of falling off. She didn’t even need to check the number of the flight, Kyul’s flight was the one leaving Seoul to China the whole day. They had seen the girl off, waved at her as she walked toward the plane and seen her boarding through the glass windows. There was no way to deny it. Swallowing hard her own tears, she dropped the phone to cover the small distance separating her from Eunwoo and engulfing her in a tight hug. **“I’m so, so sorry, Eunwoo.”**_

**_“What are you saying? She is not dead! Stop it, Yaebin, she is not!”_ ** _Eunwoo tried to break the embrace, but Kang’s arm remained firm around her as she tried to comfort the girl in the best way she could. Nunu’s efforts died down soon, her words slowly becoming just unintelligible rumblings, her face buried on Yaebin’s shoulder and her hands holding the hem of her sweater weakly. She felt like life was leaving her just like Kyulkyung just did, leaving nothing but empty space in the place where her heart used to be. **“Why, Yaebin? Why? S-She is…She was so happy here. We were.”**_

 **_“I don’t know, Eunwoo. I really don’t.”_ ** _At this point she couldn’t contain her emotions anymore, so she just sobbed, hugging the girl harder. There was nothing she could do or say that would help right now. She was close to Kyul, she had become one of her best friends in a matter of months, but it could never compare to the pain of losing someone with whom you had such a deep connection like a soulmate. She had seen how much it had affect her own mother, all she could do now was to pray that Eunwoo would be able to handle the pain better. Yaebin would be by her side as long as necessary to make sure she could go through it in the best way possible._

_Soon after they would receive a call all the way from China, confirming the bad news they already knew and both girls would only get the chance of saying their goodbyes to the ocean that had taken Kyulkyung away for good._

 

Today was also a Sunday and this simple fact was enough to make her stomach knead into uncomfortable knots of anxiety. Not even Minkyung’s large and warm hands taking a hold of hers were enough to easy the uneasiness that was dominating her body. The twenty minutes they spent on the car were enough to make her sick to they point that she felt the world spinning around her as soon as she stepped outside the vehicle – luckily Kim was there to support her, gentle hands taking hers to help her walk towards the entrance.

 In some ways it was the closest she ever felt to the girl, as if sharing her pain was somehow bringing them close together – she would rather not have to go through such a thing for it to happen.

When they reached the reception, Minky took the front asking for information and helping Yaebin to fill in all the paper work that the hospital seem to find to necessary to allow them in. If the younger woman was already nervous before, now she was feelings her nerves eating her out and it was hard to not snap at the nurse for not allowing her to see her mother right away. Once more, Kim’s presence helped to keep her emotions under control, acting as a mediator and finally getting the room’s number.

White walls, cold floor, a heavy smell of detergent and medicine…The corridor that lead to the ward where her mother was at, only made her fell her stomach even more upset than earlier. She was afraid she would throw up if she got to the room just to see her mother dead. Minky probably could tell it by her expression, since her grip on her hand grew a bit tighter as they headed to the room at a jogging pace.

Her hands were shaking, but still she didn’t hesitate in throwing the door open to see the interior od the room for herself, her eyes frantically looking for a familiar figure. She found it easily. There were four beds in there, three with the curtains closed up, while the nearest one had it open. Her mom was in the latter.

The elder was sitting on the bed with a magazine in her hands, she was wearing her coat over the hospital’s blue garment, a small  bruise on her forehead was the only thing unusual. She looked rather bored, but fine. Completely fine.

 **“Yaebin? Oh, sweetie, I didn’t want them to bother you! But they said I needed someone to pick me up and I had to wait until they could find you.”** Gwang Min greeted with a calm smile that grew into a grin when she noticed Minkyung. **“Oh! Is it her? She is just like what Yooa said!”**

Usually she would have nagged her mom for being so nosy and worrying her for no reason, but right now she was having a hard time keeping herself on her jelly like legs. She leaned against the wall, breathing heavy with so much relief that she felt like someone had punched the oxygen back into her lungs. Her mother was okay, she was alive and well. **“Thanks gods.”** Muttering to herself, Yaebin brought a hand to her chest, trying to calm the beats of her heart.

 **“Yaebin, are you fine?”** Minkyung’s voice sounded close to her face, soft hands coming to meet her jaw and cup her face in them gently. **“It’s fine, Yaebin. Everything is okay now. Just breathe.”** Her tone was so calm that it was able to calm the shorter woman a bit more, although it still took her several long and deep breaths until she was able to open her eyes and face Minky’s brown orbs that smiled at her with fondness. **“Are you okay now?”** Yaebin nodded, slightly embarrassed for making such a scene when nothing had really happened. **“Good. Now come on, I guess your mom is waiting for you to introduce us officially.”**

 **“She surely is.”** Kang tried to glare at her mom, but she wasn’t able to pretend for too long and just end up running to the woman to hug her tightly. **“Mom! I’m so glad you are okay. What happened? Why didn’t you call me? I thought…I…”** That stubborn knot on her throat was there once again, making it hard to speak without evolving into a crying mess.

Gwang Min hugged her back, cuddling her daughter and patting her back. **“I just went a bit too fast when I was taking the car out of the parking slot…You know I’m not really great with parking and then the airbag popped out and this awful thing happened.”** She broke the hug to point out the bruise on her right temple. **“At least it didn’t hit my nose!”**

Yaebin could only sigh in reply. Her mother being a clumsy mess wasn’t anything new, she was always a bit too distracted even before her husband passed away. Her daughter just never thought that it could land her a visit to a hospital. She hugged the middle aged woman again, thanking every divinity for her good luck. Eventually they separate and Yaebin was ready to start a whole quiz to make sure everything was indeed okay when her mother not so subtly pointed out Minky who had taken a seat by the bed, patiently waiting for the mother-daughter moment to end.

This time Yaebin sighed for a much different reason. She knew what was about to come.

 **“Mom, this is my…Friend, Kim Minkyung. Minkyung, this is my mother.”** She introduced the women, letting them exchange greetings but it went as well as she expected.

 **“Your soulmate! Look at her, so pretty and tall! I knew Yaebin waiting for so long would be worth it, you are a catch. What do you work on? Wait, you are older, right? Yaebin, you should’ve called her _unnie_!”** Her mom overly excited tone matched perfectly her avid expression. The young Kang used to think her mother would rather for her to not find a soulmate, letting her fear of the future govern even this part of her life – but she was so wrong, she had been projecting her own fears into Gwang Min. The answer was rather simple: She just wanted her kid to be happy, and for someone who had find a perfect partner in her own soulmate, it was only fair she wished the same for her daughter.

If Minky was annoyed by the questions, she didn’t let it show and Yaebin just watched as the duo talked effortlessly. The woman never mentioned the fact that she and Yaebin weren’t indeed together, nor the fact that she already had someone in her life, keeping her answers as light and funny as possible. The raven wasn’t sure how much of this conversation was only because Kim wanted to make things easy for her and keep her happy, and how much she really enjoyed her mother’s company, nevertheless she was grateful for the brunette’s kindness.

After checking with the doctor, running a bunch of teste and confirming that there was nothing wrong with her mother and she could take her home, they headed to restaurant nearby for dinner. After the meal Gwang Min insisted on staying at her own apartment, the woman promised she would call if she needed anything and Yaebin would come over tomorrow morning. The younger women decided on make the walk to Yaebin’s house by foot, glad for some clean air – as clean as the air of Seoul gets – after so much time at the hospital.

 **“Thanks for today. I shouldn’t have dragged you into my family problems, but you just showed up and...”** Yaebin shrugged, giving the older girl an apologetic smile. Minkyung was supposed to stop by for lunch, and now she had dragged her to a hospital ward for hours straight listening to her mom’s weird questions. **“But you said you wanted to know more about my family. I guess now you do.”**

Minky chuckle lightly, glancing at the shorter woman as they walked. **“I told you I’d be here for whatever you needed, didn’t I? I’m glad you trust me enough to allow me into your life like this.”** Meeting Yaebin’s mom gave her a different perspective of how things worked on the raven’s life, made it a bit easier to understand why she act the way she did. It was a bit awkward at times and she had to keep any complicated thoughts in the back of her mind, but still she managed to enjoy the experience. Yaebin’s mom wasn’t a bad person, she was just a little lost and it was obvious how much the girl loved her.

Actually, when she stepped into the room and saw how distraught her soulmate was, she had felt something twitch in her chest, demanding her to act and protect the younger woman. Kim tried her best to keep her composure on the way to the hospital, albeit she was almost as much nervous as Yaebin when they arrived at the room and had to face the possibility of something really bad have happened – she could have laughed of happiness when the best case scenario happened. Indeed, she felt good and glad she was there to support the raven and care for her, knowing she was the one person she could rely on had bring a warm feeling to her chest almost as good as the relief of the tragedy averted. Minkyung could never had said no to Yaebin in a moment like that, she would have done it all over if she had the choice to do so.

 **“I liked your mother. You don’t resemble her that much, but after awhile I could see that you are similar in some ways and you both share a strong bond.”** She commented with a small smile, remembering the way the two women had hugged when they first saw each. There was nothing but raw emotion there, pure family love in the most beautiful form. She might not be able to share Yaebin’s pain in the case something had happened, but she was glad she didn’t have to. Her friend’s life hadn’t been easy and she deserved all the happiness she could get.

 **“And she liked you, too. A bit too much.”** Yaebin slowed down her steps, her gaze becoming more serious and harder to read. Minkyung knew her enough to know the expression her face would have whenever she got caught on her own head, just like now.

 **“Too much?”** Her tone was still light, but more hesitant now. Careful.

 **“I didn’t want her to meet you. She doesn’t understand what is happening…I don’t even know if I do.”** She pressed her lips tightly together, pondering her words. The last thing she wanted to do was start a fight, specially today when Minky had helped her so much…But it was exactly the problem. The longer she kept Kim around, the harder it would be to lose her and she couldn’t take this chance. **“You keep saying you will be always be here for me, but will you really?”**

Minkyung blinked, averting her look back to the street. The change in subjects was making her uneasy, heading to a conversation she didn’t know if she was ready to have. It wasn’t like she hadn’t thought about it, she had a little too much even. However, it didn’t mean she had come up with a magical solution. **“Yaebin, I don’t know about the future, but I’ll try my best to be here for you. We also share a bond, somehow.”**

 **“Yes, we do.”** Kang stole a glance at her soul mark, closing her hand into a fist. **“But what does it even mean to us?”** Completely ignoring their initial plan, she stopped walking. Somehow they had ended up at a staircase with a beautiful view of the city, yet she couldn’t pay it any attention in the moment. **“I let you into my life because I was curious about what would happen, because I…I thought that I deserved the chance of at least meeting you after so long, but…”** She took a deep breath. This kind of conversation would always torment her, every day after she said her goodbyes to Minkyung and she would immediately miss her presence, every time she would mention the other woman in her life and try to brush it off, every time she walked into the store with a smile and seem to fit right into her life…The kind of tempting thoughts and dreams that were so natural she couldn’t ignore any longer. **“I don’t know if I can be happy with just this. If this is enough for me. I know you for only a couple of weeks, yet it doesn’t feel like it. It feels… _Right_ and good. Is it only me?”**

Minkyung forced herself to not move, to not wince or step back. Running away hadn’t solve any of her problems, to do it now wouldn’t either. Still, stare at Yaebin’s pretty and sharp eyes was a hard task, it made her feel vulnerable as if the other could see right through her **. “You know is not that simple for me.”** She said, her voice too quiet under the city’s sounds. All that Yaebin said made sense and she would be lying if she said she couldn’t feel the same happening to her. It’s been a while since it didn’t matter anymore whether her liking for the younger woman was only a trick of the soul mark or a legit feeling, it was growing strong inside her and there was no way she could avoid it. The time they spent together only brought them closer, creating a bond so strong in such a small time frame – the same time that seem able to corrupt her original relationship. She swallowed hard, feeling her mouth went dry. **“I want you in my life, Yaebin. You are an amazing person, and be it as a friend or a soulmate I don’t want to lose you.”**

 **“But you don’t see me just as a friend, do you?”** Yaebin stepped closer, taking the advantage of the steps that allowed them to be on the same level. She stared deeply into Minkyung’s chocolate orbs, seeing the waves of emotions exposed on it. Their breaths forming small clouds of vapor due to the cool night breezy, sending a small, pleasant shiver through her spine. They were never so close, she never allowed herself to try anything that could hurt Minkyung’s feeling or her relationship. All they had were a feel stolen, innocent touches and the hugs that only happened when Minky was trying to comfort her. Suddenly she wanted the freedom to touch her soulmate, the liberty to feel how smooth her hands would be against hers or how sweet her lips could be if they kissed. **“You are my soulmate and it is supposed to mean so much, but your feelings are what really matter in the end. So just be honest, not only with me or with your girlfriend, but with yourself first.”**

They all knew it would eventually happen, that a decision would have to be made for everyone’s sake. If she wanted to protect herself and the others, it was better to do it now. She stepped down, giving her space. **“I don’t want to pressure you but... Don't I deserve an answer? I can't be happy with crumbs forever.”**

Minkyung opened her mouth to argue, but soon after closed it. She didn’t know what to say. Yaebin had become an important part of her life in such a shot amount of time, yet she wasn’t the only person in her life.

 **“Yaebin.”** Minky held the sleeve of her coat, preventing her from running away. It was her turn to step down, their height difference was still there but she had leaned in only enough to allow their faces to be close together. **“You are right. We are not friends, but we’re not lovers either. I should’ve known better from the beginning, but I was stubborn and afraid and…”** She closed her eyes, taking a deep, shaky breath. **“Don’t you think I also feel my heart skipping a beat when I get too close to you or that I don’t feel that warm feeling whenever I see you? The problem is that I used to feel that for Kyungwon. Before…Before it all, and even now, I know she still feels the same way. And I wonder if I still do, too.”** She released the girl from her grip, hugging herself instead. The mark on her palm seem to burn, but she kept her hand tightly closed as if like this she could ignore its existence. **“I wonder every day what is wrong with me. If it is just the mark acting or is me…If I changed because I met you…How am I supposed to know it’s genuine?”**

The question seem to be blown away by the cold wind, leaving only the even colder silent in its place. Yaebin didn’t have an answer to give her. Therefore she did what her heart demanded, leaning in to leave a chaste, loving kiss on Minkyung’s lips. Maybe the mark were commanding her actions, but she was too weak to no crumble under its power and embrace the love it could bring to her life. Minky’s lips were as soft and sweet as she thought, she couldn’t anticipate the fluttering feeling on her mind or the uneven beats of her heart that it would bring. It was only a peck, something so small and meaningless shouldn’t make her feel so much, shouldn’t make her want to pull Minkyung closer and kiss her until her fragile heart couldn’t take so much love and made her explode confessing all her feelings.

But she couldn’t, she was already overstepping the boundaries and Minkyung quickly had pulled back her beautiful eyes filled with unreleased tears. **“Stop it.”** She put her hands on Yaebin’s delicate shoulder, keeping her away. The same feelings were crushing her right now, just like the guilt that just wouldn’t leave her alone. She wasn’t that kind of person, she wouldn’t do it to Kyungwon. **“She told me to come and talk to you, she wanted  to give me a chance of being happy…But how is it fair to her when she will be only one unhappy?”** She let go of Yaebin to wipe away the hot tears that marked her face **. “I’m sorry. I have to go.”**

And in the end she ran away, again, letting a confused and heart wenching Kang behind just to go and meet another one at her house.

 

 

* * *

* * *

#  **_Monday_ **

 

When Minkyung woke up that day, she found Kyungwon’s side of the bed empty and was greeted the sound of the front door being shut, followed by Kyungwon’s familiar steps. She blinked, trying to get rid of the sleepiness. She had come home late last night only to find Kyungwon locked in her office, busy with whatever it was. She wanted to knock and tell her about everything that had happened, about her feelings and apologize for have break so many promises – but she didn’t, she couldn’t. Admit it all would mean she had to lose Kyungwon and although she knew it was selfish of hers, she wished they had only a little longer together.  Just one more day.

She had just finished washing up when Kang entered the room, giving her a warm smile that in other times would have make her heart skip a beat, but could only get a weak unenthusiastic imitation in return now. Unconsciously, she took a hand to cover the left side of her chest, as if she could hide from her girlfriend her disloyal heart.

The smile on the slightly younger girl didn’t wave. **“Get ready fast. I’m walking you to work, but I want to have breakfast before going.”** She informed in a light tone that Minkyung hadn’t thought she could possibly hear anymore coming from her. Kyungwon stopped by the door, giving her one final appreciative smile. **“You look gorgeous in the morning. It’s my favorite view!”** She winked mischievously before going away.

Minky’s hand clenched against her chest, a warm sensation invading her thanks to Kyungwon’s little compliment. Her heart may be betraying her, but it wasn’t completely insensible.

Kyungwon had everything ready, all their favorite food and more than this, she seem so happy and excited that Kim couldn’t help but wonder why the sudden change of attitude. However, she didn’t question it, instead she just enjoyed the moment.

The brown haired woman told her about the webtoon and all she, Siyeon and Sungyeon had planned for it for the next year or so, and Minkyung though she was the one who looked so good with that proud and confident look on her face. She also asked Minky about her work, for what the older girl answered shyly that things were a bit complicated after her boss left but she thought it would be okay.

 **“You should focus on your books! Sungyeon could help, you know? Just do what really makes you happy, love.”** Kyungwon said, taking her hand to leave a sweet kiss on the back of it. Her grin was enough to make the Kim smile as well and nod. **“Did I told you I saw Kongie? He looks so cute with the new clothes and…”** Kang easily switched topics, it was like she had endless things to say and Minkyung was more than happy to hear it.

Part of her knew there was something off, that things couldn’t possibly change so fast and she couldn’t simply ignore her own feelings and everything that had happened last night just because they were having a good day. Yet, she decide to ignore her rational part and drown into Kyungwon’s dark chocolate eyes that seem so passionate talking about the most mundane things. Be it romantic love or not, that girl was still deep in her heart and she wanted to be around her in this little moment of happiness.

As soon as she finished her food, Kyungwon prompt her to get ready to leave. **“Let’s go. I don’t want your new boss complaining you are late.”**

They left with plenty of time, a first for them. Whenever the slightly shorter girl walked Minky to work they would always be in a rush, thanks to the fact that usually it happened in the days after a long night where they were up until late, and Kyungwon would try to make it up to her girlfriend by running with her to try to get to the subway in time. It was not the case now.

Minkyung felt her girlfriend’s warm hand on hers all the way, the grip was tight, but gentle. Kyungwon would give her small, fond smiles whenever their eyes met, keeping their pace in perfect sync to point out the little things on the way, making the way to work a lot more pleasant than usual. Even when they got to the subway station and got into the car crowded, the younger girl didn’t let go of the her hand, standing in front of her the whole time.

 **“Smile.”** She mouthed, using a hand to fix Minkyung’s bangs. Kyungwon’s slender fingers proceed to touch the tip of her nose lightly, bringing a smile to the brunette’s face. Kang’s grin grew even wider, reaching her eyes that crinkled in the corners, forming a loving eye smile. She didn’t say anything, only touching Minky’s face gently once in a while.

Kim had to bit down on her bottom lip, refraining from saying something she would regret. Kyungwon was acting just like when they first started dating and she felt the need of reassuring Minkyung of how much she loved and cared for her and that it was all that matter. It seem so long ago and so much had changed. The fact that Kyungwon still remembered and was willing to do it again was at the same time amazing and heart breaking because they had passed the point of no return and she couldn’t ignore it any longer. She wished she could still feel the same as before, that her heart fluttered just by looking at Kyungwon’s loving eyes and she could simply hug her and feel like time had stopped just for them.

When her feelings had changed so much? How much of it was really the mark’s fault and how much was only her? It was impossible to tell. Either way, it wasn’t fair to the caring and loving woman in front of her.

Ignoring all etiquette, she reached out, pulling the girl into a tight embrace. **“Kyungwon…”**

 **“Don’t.”** Kang cut off, pushing her back gently, her signature grin still on her face, even though it didn’t reach her eyes anymore. **“I want to take _you_ to work. Not a panda version of you.”  **The teasing wasn’t enough to make Minky smile, but she forced herself to nod in agreement. Kyungwon didn’t deserve another scene like this, she deserve to have the perfect morning she planned and she would have it.

They reached their stop sooner than expected and were greeted by a sunny day as soon as they left the subway. Kim’s workplace was only a couple of hundred meters from there, meaning they would reach the place in a matter of minutes.

The brunette intertwined their fingers, leaving a kiss on the back of Kyungwon’s hand just like she had done earlier. Strong and reliable, warm hands, with small calluses gained from her long hours drawing, the same hands that had always been there for her and still were. She might have changed, but Kyungwon was still the same.

Kim followed her quick steps, taking a moment to take in every little detail of her girlfriend, capturing it for eternity on her memory. Kang’s shoulder length brown haired was getting a little too long, the bangs hovering over her beautiful dark eyes, shifting the attention to her high cheek bones and chiseled nose, the strong jaw more visible than usual. Kyungwon was beautiful, truly, inside and out.

She deserved more than her half hearted love. Kyungwon probably also knew it and perhaps it was the reason for her actions today.

They stopped in front of the company, Minky still clinging onto the younger girl’s arm.

 **“Are you working today? Again?”** She timidly asked, afraid of what she was about to hear.

 **“Yep.”** The light tone was still there, filled with stubbornness.  Kyungwon would keep her façade until the very ending, as expected of her. **“Don’t worry, I’ll come back home. Today.”** She leaned in to kiss Minkyung on the lips, a little longer than necessary.

Minkyung rested her hands on the girl’s broad shoulders, keeping her in place so she could prolong the contact. The kiss was nice, soft lips pressing gently against hers – but that was all. No more somersaults in her stomach, no involuntary smile on her face, not even the feeling of pleasure filling her chest. She hated it. She hate the inability of feeling like she always had. She hated herself.

It took her a moment to realize her grip on the Kyungwon was a bit too strong, however the woman didn’t complain. **“It’s okay, Minky. Just go to work and we can have dinner together later.”** The younger woman gave her a small smile, gently taking her hands off her shoulders. **“I love you. Have a good day.”**

Minkyung tried to speak, but Kyungwon blocked her with a quick kiss. **“Go! Not getting late today, remember? I’ll see you later.”**

Unwilling, the brunette obeyed her request, giving her one final hug before heading inside the building. She didn’t turn around to check on Kyungwon, otherwise she would have seen the woman’s smile falling out of her face to give space to a heavy sigh.

 

 

* * *

 

Her second of the day had to be delayed. Kang thought she was stronger than she really was, but her little breakdown on the way back home was enough to prove she wasn’t. She had tried so hard to keep her act to Minkyung, as if pretending everything was fine, she would be able to make things like this and it would be the memory she would have left – it wasn’t. She had noticed every look Minky gave her, she felt all the changes between them and it was slowly killing her. Even if she was able to keep her façade, her memory of the moment was tainted by the pain inside her heart that colored everything grey.

Back home Kyungwon allowed herself to cry, trying to release all the emotions that were eating her inside. In this state it was hard to think she could make it through the day, still she had to. There wasn’t a painless way to do it, therefore it was better to get it over with it already.

Taking a long shower, the tall girl got ready to proceed with the plan.

She headed to Yewon’s house, a small apartment building that matched perfectly the girl’s style. It had taken her several minutes to gather the courage and call the girl, asking her to meet her and as expected from Yewon loyal and kind personality, she had agreed right away without any questions. Now the younger woman was making her way downstairs to meet Kang that was waiting patiently, sitting on the front steps of the building.

Hearing the sounds of footsteps, Kyungwon turned around slight to face the new comer. Bright brown eyes that were of a similar shade of brown to Minky’s, stared at her when Yewon notice her presence, the usual smile appearing on her face hiding the orbs in half moons.

Kyungwon felt a knot on her throat, a sharp pain on her chest as she looked at the girl that was to her like a sister.

When she fell for Minkyung, she never thought the implications a potential break up could have, mainly because she never even admitted it as a real possibility. She should’ve known better, perhaps like that she wouldn’t have grown so attached to that family.

Forcing a smile, Kyungwon raised her right hand, showing the pages to the girl. **“Yewonie. I promised you a sketch, didn’t I?”** She gave her a smile, one that hopefully only showed how much she loved and appreciated the girl and not her emotional turmoil. However, Yewon had always been good at seeing right through people, and she was no exception.

Yewon’s expression changed, her lips quivering as she leaned in to back hug the older woman. **“Kyungwon _unnie_!”**

With a short, weak laugh, Kang only stood still. She didn’t need to ask to know the reason why the younger girl was acting like this, Minkyung had always been close to her family, it was only natural that she told them about what was going on. The smaller Kim was holding her dearly, making her think that today she wasn’t only giving up on Minkyung, but also on the wonderful family that she once considered as her own. A single stubborn tear rolled down her cheek and she was quick to wipe it away with her free hand. **“You stop it. No one is dying here.”** She finally pushed the girl away, as gentle as possible, making her sit down beside her instead.

 **“Here. I worked hard on them, but I’m not very inspired lately so…”** The taller girl shrugged, handing Minkyung’s sister the drawings. She would usually sketch their performances, mostly in a funny way to make the younger girls laugh. Not this time though, since it would be the last one for a long time, if not forever, she had put all her effort on it.

Yewon unfolded the pages with care, her fingers running through it, barely touching as if she was afraid it would erase all. Her sweet brown eyes looked up to meet Kyungwon’s darker ones, full of unreleased tears that made her look like the child she met over a decade ago. **“Thank you. It’s beautiful.”** It wasn’t, at least the artist didn’t think so, but she knew Yewon would keep anything as long as she could feel the sentiment it carried – and these the sketches had enough for a lifetime.

Kang only gave her signature grin, hugging the girl by the shoulder. **“I have a favor to ask you.”**

 **“It’s about Minkyung, isn’t it?”** Yewon gave her an uncharacteristic serious look.

With a short nod, Kyungwon proceeded to tell her plans and ask for Yewon’s assistance.

 **“I don’t think this is right, unnie. You should talk to her.”** The younger one didn’t seem happy with what she heard, a pout forming on her face as she tried to hold back tears and the taller woman hugged her. She knew she was asking too much of the girl, still she was the only one who could do it and Kyungwon wouldn’t be able to feel at peace if she didn’t know Yewon would be by Minkyung’s side tomorrow.

 **“I’m sorry, Yewon, but I can’t. I’m afraid I would change my mind if I did, and it would only make things worse.”** It was time for her to stand her ground.

 **“You know you don’t have to do this. Even if you and Minkyung _unnie_ aren’t together anymore, we are still family. Aren’t we?”** She tugged on Kang’s sleeve, and once again it reminded Kyungwon of a much younger and shy Yewon that she met over ten years ago. She had grown so much since then, much of this to do with her supportive and loving soulmate – Kyungwon hoped that Minkyung’s soulmate would have a similar effect on her.

 **“You’ll always be like a sister to me, Yewonie.”** The younger brunette sniffed, hugging her once more. Yewon had always been a very sensitive person, she used to stay with the two older girls, too shy to mingle with the other kids. Kyungwon had got used to her presence and become fond of the little one, now even after so much time this much hadn’t change and she hoped it would never change. There weren’t friendship marks, but she was sure that if they existed, she would have one with Yewon’s name on it.

For a while they just stood there, Yewon finally stopping crying and becoming a bit more rational, asking her questions and giving her own opinions – in times like this she reminded Kyungwon of her sister.

 **“Arin is here, finally.”** She gesture in the direction of the girl that was approaching them with a curious look on her face. Arin would look after Yewon and it was enough to make Kyungwon feel a little better about things. She would miss these two.

 **“Yewon two!”** She stood up, hugging the other girl. **“You two are the best couple I’ve met, you know? I’m glad you guys are together.”** Her tone was light, making the younger woman frown slightly in confusing as she exchanged a look with the Kim that just shrugged with a small smile.

**“Did something happen?”**

**“What should’ve happened long ago, I think.”** She let the girl go, taking a step back so she could face both women. It wasn’t her intention to be enigmatic and worry Arin, but she knew Yewon would fill her into the topic soon. **“I’ve got to go now though. Be good to each other and go grab some food.”**

She exchange a final glance with Yewon, receiving a weak positive nod, before she could wave them goodbye.

As she walked away, she still could hear Arin asking:

**“What is the world just happened?”**

 

 

* * *

 

Yaebin was helping the new girl, Choi Yerim, to get familiar with all the book sections and explaining how things work. The new part timer was an incredibly bright kid who Yooa introduced her to, she was still in college and needed to make some extra money so the job was perfect for her. Yaebin was glad for how smart and willing to learn the young brunette was, she wouldn’t take long to get the hang of the job.

The bookstore owner smiled, watching as Kyla came over to look after the girl – she still didn’t understand the reason for the latter give up on the job, but it wasn’t her place to questioning her, she could only thank the girl for being so mindful and stay a few more days to help Yerim.

 **“Unnie, there’s a woman looking for you at the front.”** Kyla informed with her usual calm and almost indifferent tone. Yaebin frowned slightly, wondering who could be. The employees already knew her mom, so at least she didn’t have to worry about the woman coming to bother her personally.

She nodded, letting Yerim under Kyla’s care and walked to the front of the shop, passing by a giggly Yooa who questioned in a playful tone. **“Aren’t you popular with the tall good looking clients lately?”** Yaebin just waved her off, intrigued to what was happening

However, she just smiled relaxed as soon as she recognized the figure. It was one of their usual customers. **“Oh, hey! Did you come to get the usual? You are a bit late this month.”** Yaebin greeted, approaching the taller woman.

The brown haired girl gave her a tight lipped smile. Unfortunately, she hadn’t just come to get a new edition of a manga this time, she probably wouldn’t ever come back to so either. **“I didn’t come because of it.”**

 **“Lost interest? I see.”** Yaebin nodded and she was ready to give some other recommendations when the woman spoke again.

**“I never really liked it. They were for Minkyung.”**

The shorter Kang furrowed her eyebrows. Minkyung wasn’t exactly a rare name, but there was something about the other woman’s tone that made her unease.

 **“I believe you gave her one already.”** Kyungwon completed, her polite smile still on her face as she watched the shock of realization hitting Yaebin.

 **“I think I never introduced myself properly, so I should do it now since it will be our last meeting.”** She offered her hand to the younger girl. **“I’m Kang Kyungwon. Minkyung’s girlfriend.”**

Yaebin looked at the other woman for a moment, before she could recover her composure and shake the hand. **“Kang Yaebin, I’m…”**

She had seen the fellow Kang so many times, yet it never occurred her that Minkyung’s girlfriend might be someone she knows. It was hard to not stare and compare herself to the other.

 **“I know who you are.”** Albeit the reply came a bit too fast, the taller brunette’s tone remained polite.

Yaebin tried to return the smile with her own stiff one.

Kyungwon was pretty much everything she wasn’t. The difference in height was only the most obvious one. The brown haired woman had a serious look on her face today, but Yaebin still remembered the easy smile that she always sported and fit perfectly on the pretty face of sharp features. They never really had a real conversation, only small talk, however she always felt like the woman was someone fun to be around and by her manners she could tell Kyungwon was a nice person as well – just like Minkyung had said. She matched Minkyung well.

 **“Is it a bad time? I just wanted to…Give you this.”** Kyungwon spoke, her voice was small, as if she didn’t want anyone else to hear it. She showed a small notebook on her right hand.

The younger Kang finally snapped out of her thoughts, shaking her head slightly. **“Er, sure thing. My office is at the back.”** She pointed out the place, leading the older woman there without a second word. They walked in silence, remaining like this even when they sat down on the comfortable chairs of the office.

Yaebin’s gaze hovered over the notebook that was still on the Minkyung’s girlfriend hand. She had thought about how it could be meeting this woman, but in no scenario she imagined it was anything like it.

Kyungwon cleared her throat, preparing herself to do what she was supposed to. She could see the smaller Kang was as uncomfortable as she was, maybe even more. The other times they met, Yaebin always looked like a very well put together adult, oozing confidence when she would talk about anything related to her work, but now she looked much younger and somehow fragile. It was weird that she found the girl endearing? Wasn’t she supposed to hate her?

Well, Kyungwon was never good at hating anyone. It was usually the opposite, she always loved people too much. The reason why she was there proved it.

 **“Here. Everything you need to know about Minkyung, from her bad habits to the small things that make her happy.”** She handed the shorter brunette the notebook. It wasn’t anything new, actually she kept it for a couple of years now. At first she planned on using it to write about her fictional characters for the manhwa, but she ended up writing only about the wise fox in the drawings she never got to publish – Minkyung. It was a collection of small facts, a couple of funny stories and the little habits that she learned to love on the girl. Back then she thought it would be useful for when she finally put her idea in action. However, now it would never happen and it seem pointless to keep it.

The bookstore owner didn’t make a move, refusing to accept the book. **“Why are you giving me this?”**

Kyungwon’s presence itself was intimidating. Not in the way Minkyung was, with all her alluring and charming ways, it was more dry and cold – just like someone who was posing as something they weren’t really. By looking at the fellow Kang dark chocolate eyes that didn’t express much, so different from the times she had smiled warmly at Yaebin even though they were mere acquaintances, she knew right away that the person she was facing right now was just a consequence of everything that happened. Yaebin lowered her head, avoiding the woman’s gaze as a sharp pain hit her. This was the one thing she never wished for: ruin someone else’s happy life.

Kyungwon left out a small, broken laugh. **“Why do you think?”** With a sigh, she averted her gaze to her left hand where the promise ring still was. She lowered the notebook, letting it rest on her lap once. **“I’m leaving her life. For good.”**

 **“Does she know about it?”** Minkyung never told Yaebin much about her girlfriend, and Yaebin never insisted on the subject, she could tell it was painful for the brunette. Kyungwon might not be Minkyung’s soulmate, but they had a strong relationship and she highly doubt the Kim would give up on it all of sudden.

The taller girl took off the promise ring out of her finger, placing it on her pocket with shaky moves. **“She will soon.”** There was no emotion on her voice, her eyes glued to her own hands that were busy rubbing the place where the ring was before.

It didn’t seem right, for neither of them. Still, Yaebin could understand her actions. She couldn’t rejoice from knowing Minkyung would be free now, but from the beginning they all knew it would end up like this eventually.

She wondered how much hurt and courage it took Kyungwon to make this decision.

 **“Minkyung told me you were the kindest person she ever met, I guess she was right.”** Her quiet voice was barely audible in the silent office, but by the way one of the corners of Kyungwon’s mouth went up in a small, almost inexistent smile, she knew the woman heard her.

 **“Minkyung can be very cheesy at times. I would’ve write it down as well, but I figured you must’ve noticed by now.”** The light tone didn’t match the atmosphere, neither it was able to reach her eyes. Once more the older Kang offered her the notebook, her gaze fixed on Yaebin’s face, pressuring her to accept the offer.

Kyungwon was starting to think Yaebin would reject it, when the girl finally took the notebook out of her hands gently. She tried her best to smile, praying that her ability of keeping her emotions out of her face wouldn’t fail her now. But it was hard. Why handing out that freaking notebook made her feel like she had just gave Minky herself to the other girl? It wasn’t so far of the truth, still her heart clenching in her chest as she watched Yaebin hug the annotations to her chest as if it was something dear to her. 

It was the right thing to do, she knew it. However, giving up on someone you love would never be an easy task.

She blinked, clenching her fists on her coat’s pocket to try to keep her composure.

 **“It’s not that big of deal. Just some stuff I learned through the years and might be useful. You know, she may look confident and completely in control of everything, but she gets hurt easily and tends to close herself up to the world. Will be your job to know how to reach her and make sure she is fine.”** She muttered the words that had been on her mind ever since she finished writing that damn thing. **“It may be hard sometimes, but it’s worth it. And well, you are her soulmate, so I think you can do it better than anyone else.”** _Better than me._ Yaebin would be better to Minkyung in every sense and she could never forget it.

She stood up, ready to leave before her emotions took over her.

Yaebin wanted to reach out and hug the girl, no matter how weird and out of place it could be, she felt it was the right thing to do. So she did it.

For a moment, Kyungwon just remained stiff in her arms, but the small Kang didn’t back away. Eventually, the taller girl gave in to the hug, her long arms loosely hugging Yaebin back. She didn’t say a word, only her labored breaths breaking the silence in the room. The younger woman had no idea if it brought her some comfort, but she hoped it did.

Kyungwon was the first to step back, a gloomy smile on her face as her bright dark eyes looked at the bookstore owner.

 **“So, I trust her to you.”** The taller Kang’s voice was deep, filled with too many emotions to be taken lightly. In any other occasion, she would have joked about how tack the situation was, after all Kim wasn’t a child in need of care, but both of them knew what she meant and e even her wouldn’t be able to crack a joke in such moment.

Yaebin nodded, feeling her throat closing up as she tried to reply. **“I’ll take care of her.”** It was weird that although she was the ‘winner’ in that situation, she still had hot tears in the back of her eyes. She promised herself she would always be the best to Minkyung, no matter what. **“Thank you.”**

The brown haired woman didn’t answer, just giving her a final nod before leaving the place.

 

 

* * *

 

Minkyung tried one last time to meet the owner of the Im’s Manuscripts, the creepy place that was closed every time she tried to visit before. Her most rational part told her that she should just forget about that weird place, that Nayoung must be just another nut job that lives off conspiracy theories and her grandma’s retirement money. However, she didn’t have many options regarding the whole soulmate matter, whether she liked it or not, the place was the only one where she could find detailed books on soulmates and if she could have a chance of taking a look at them even if only for a little while, it was worth the try.

This time when she stopped by the bookstore, she found the door wide open, as if it was waiting for her. Raising her eyebrows, feeling a bit uneasy of adventuring inside the dusty room once more, she took careful steps. Just like the first time, the place didn’t have a single customer, the books were still messily located everywhere and the illumination was barely enough for her to read anything at all.

Although there was a pretty blatant difference now, and it took form in the tall brunette that looked at her with a expression that was so stoic that automatically made Minky feel uncomfortable. For a while they just stared at each other, until the younger woman couldn’t stand anymore the silent and spoke.

 **“Hi. I’m Kim Minkyung.”** She bowed politely, not daring to approach the woman **. “I believe you emailed me a couple of days ago? You are Nayoung, right?”**

 **“I suppose someone did.”** Her tone didn’t have any inflection, it was as flat as her expression, albeit she took a few steps closer to the Kim. **“Im Nayoung.”** A short, mechanic bow followed.

Minky switched the weight from her body from a foot to another, uncomfortable with the way that Nayoung still kept her sleepy eyes on her. She actually wanted to go and grab one of the books, or maybe a dozen of them, all the it took to find something useful. But she was having a hard time acting under such gaze.

 **“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to sound er…Rude, but you don’t have any new books here. The company for which I work doesn’t deal with antiques.”** She looked around, checking once more if there was even a signal of a book that had been realized in the past century at least. Nothing.

 **“We don’t have this kind of book in here.”** Was all Im said. She didn’t seem very talkative.

Minkyung had to refrain from sighing, deciding to put her work etiquette aside.

**“What is this place even? This is not a bookstore, is it?”**

**“It’s a library. We only open for _special_ occasions.”**

Special occasions? As if the place didn’t look appropriated for a horror movie already the owner had to add her own gloomy words to its atmosphere.

Enough with the enigmatic talk.

 **“Then why did you sent me the email? Why was your name on our lists even? A normal library wouldn’t have a bunch of blank books.”** She pointed out the said books, expecting to get a reaction out of the woman with that.

Nayoung had prepared herself for this type of conservation for a long while. **“Only people who need it can find their way to here. And even if they do, they can only read the book that can help them.”**

 **“Need what?”** The human frowned, the uneasiness slowly spreading through her body.

For the first time that evening Nayoung showed some emotion – even if it was in the form of a slightly annoyed sigh. **“I thought you would have figured out by now.”**

 **“The soulmate…?”** Minkyung tried, the words sounds weird to her own ears. Thinking about finding a solution and actually getting ‘help’ without even asking for it were two very different things. She still didn’t know if she could trust Nayoung, she didn’t even knew what exactly she had got herself into.

 **“Go ahead. You know the book, don’t you?”** Im gestured one of the shelves, waiting for Minkyung to follow her instructions.

After a moment of hesitation, she did as she was told. _You don’t have anything to lose_ , she muttered to herself trying to brave up. There were so many books in there, small and big ones, all so old that she could bet even the mold on it was older than her. Still, she was drawn by a certain book, its red cover dotted by dust – the same book she had read before, the only one she was able to. Just like the other time, she couldn’t help the urge to reach out and grab it, opening it with motions that were more rushed than graceful. Her finger slid through the pages, looking for the point she had stopped by the last time.

But she couldn’t find it. She couldn’t find anything at all.

The book was blank.

 **“W-Why? Why can’t I read it?”** She franticly went through the book pages, finding nothing but empty page after page. A despair that she had forced into a corner of her mind was starting to reappear, all her fears solidified as her last resort proved to be nothing more than a twisted joke. **“This is another book! Are you trying to trick me?”**

Minkyung gaze the elder a piercing look, putting the book back into place roughly.

She wasn’t acting like herself, they both knew it. Minky wasn’t one to act reckless and to be easily annoyed, neither it was like her to pinpoint her problems at others. Nevertheless, all the stress from the last of couple of weeks, and specially the conversation she with Yaebin last night, were crushing her and pushing her to the edge.

 **“We both know this is the right book.”** Nayoung’s gaze was colder now, inflexible. **“I don’t make jokes.”** Whether that kid wanted to believe her or not wasn’t really her problem, she had done enough by allowing her inside.

 **“No…This can’t be…Please.”** Her frustration was turning into hurt, the disappointment of having her hopes crashed once more. **“You said only people who need help can come in. I could read it before, why I can’t do it now?”**

Nayoung’s dark eyes softened, even if only a slightly. Humans were pitiful creatures in her eyes, hence why she always tried to help them to reach happiness. Unfortunately, they seem unable to understand that sometime the path for happiness is marked by pain and sorrow.

**“You can’t read it because your soulmate is in your heart now. You don’t need it anymore.”**

Kim’s eyes grew larger, shocked by the woman’s words. She had tried so hard to keep her feelings buried inside her heart, to downplay it as much as she could, to pretend nothing had changed…But _she_ had changed.

**“The mark, it-“**

**“The mark can’t create love. Only a human soul can, and you did it. Both of you did.”** The goddess’ of love expressed the closest thing of a smile she had ever showed, her lips curving ever so slightly, in an apathetic try of comfort. **“The soul mark only helped to connect you two, you should be glad for having this opportunity.”**

Minkyung reached out for the promise ring on her hand, looking for its usual comfort and finding nothing. Her gaze shifted to her hand, only then noticing the jewelry was no longer there. She bite down on her bottom lip, opening her hand to verify that her soulmate was still there, unchanged.

She didn’t only lose the ring, she lost a huge part of her life and didn’t even realized it.

**“Kyungwon…”**

**“Everyone has their own path in life, child. It’s time for you to follow yours.”** Nayoung patted her shoulder with surprisingly gentleness. **“And she has hers.”**

The taller girl looked at the library’s owner with watery eyes, taking a deep breath to try and regain her control over her emotions. **“Who are you?”**

 **“I’m someone who owes you an apology, only this.”** Im stepped back, bowing again to the human. **“Now you shall go.”**

Minkyung could’ve argued, tried to search the whole place for other books, or even scream at the woman for trying to confuse her – but she knew it would be pointless. It wasn’t simply the book, although she felt that Nayoung wasn’t lying about it. It was about her own feelings and how she couldn’t deny it any longer.

 Therefore she just left without a single word, her aimless steps leading her back home.

Nayoung didn’t say anything either, she didn’t have to, both knew Minkyung wouldn’t be able to find that place ever again.

 

 

* * *

 

It was past 1 am when Kyungwon stepped inside the house, taking her shoes off with lazy motions. She fixed her coat, leaving it on the rack before walking towards her studio. She didn’t turn on the lights, as if like this her presence wouldn’t be notice, albeit it was useless since a voice called her out before she could reach the place.

 **“Kyungwon, you’re home?”** It was more a statement than a question, done in a nonchalant tone that didn’t fit well with its owner. The voice was coming from the kitchen, the only place of the house where the lights were on in the moment.

With a deep breath, the brown haired woman turned on her heels, heading to the kitchen. She could have simply pretended to not listen, but it wouldn’t do them any good. She had delayed it as much as she could, but there was no escape.

Minkyung’s fox like eyes darted to her, filled with a mix of concern and restlessness. Kyungwon could almost feel her nerves from all the way of the other side of the room **. “You are late.”** It wasn’t an accusation, there was no anger in her words, just…disappointment? Maybe even sadness. **“Were you working with Siyeon again?”**

Kyungwon shook her head in a negative **. “No, I was out, just…Strolling…Looking for my soulmate and stuff.”** The dry humor only add to the growing tension between them, and Kyungwon regretted immediately her words. No matter how bad things were, or what she was about to do, become a bitter person who hurts others for no reason was exactly the opposite of everything she ever wanted. It wasn’t about being nice to her girlfriend anymore, it was about making sure she kept herself floating in the middle of all that mess.

She was about to lose Minkyung, she couldn’t afford losing herself too.

 **“Sorry.”** The younger woman lowered her head, her voice small. **“I need to talk to you.”** Once again she turned her back to the Kim, unable to face her, going back to the living room where she took a seat the couch. They usually talked in the bedroom where she had always felt safe and closer to Minky. However, she didn’t want to be affect by the good memories, nor taunt them with harsh words that she wouldn’t be able to hold in for long.

The brunette’s light steps could be heard, only a moment before she sat on the sofa alongside Kyungwon. Minkyung didn’t say a thing, she just waited patiently, as if she already knew what was about to come, yet didn’t want to be the other to bring it up.

A stiff, unnatural smile appeared on Kang’s face as she turned slightly to face her girl – No, that was not her girl anymore. She needed to get used to it. **“I want to break up.”** Her voice was surprisingly stable, almost indifferent, reflecting the numbing feeling that started to creep over her chest. She had rehearsed it in her head multiple times, maybe if she pretended that it was just another rehearsal she could go through with it without breaking down. **“We can’t pretend everything is okay forever. So I’m doing what I think is the best. For everyone.”**

Kang hadn’t move an inch, still Minky winced like she had just received a punch – and perhaps she did, even if not physically. There are moments in life that doesn’t matter if you know what is about will inevitably happen, how much you prepare for it or if you try to detached yourself from the feelings, in the end it hits you anyway. It was hitting Minkyung harder than she could’ve predicted. She wanted to protest, to say it wasn’t only up to Kyungwon and she couldn’t simply discard her life this – but how would this be fair? It was she who had replaced the girl even if she didn’t realize it at first.

She had been dreading this moment the whole day, knowing their little moment in the morning would probably be their last. Going to that library was her last try at saving their relationship, a desperate try that she knew before ahead would fail because nothing could possibly _fix_ her feelings now.

Her eyes lingered on the woman she thought for so long was the love of her life, hating to see her dull red eyes. Kyungwon’s eyes were her favorite in the world, always so candid and kind, yet now they only showed how broken inside she was.

Minkyung couldn’t be egoistic anymore. It was time to let her best friend free to go and find her own soulmate, and hopefully, happiness as well.

 **“Having you in my life was the best thing that could’ve happened to me.”** She confessed, her words filled with sincerity, her eyes still on the girl’s. Not meeting Yaebin earlier might have affected their relationship, but it also gave her the chance of having some very valuable years with Kyungwon. **“And I swear I tried my best to keep you, but I…I’ve failed you.”** Her voice cracked, and she had to make a pause to try and breath before the sobs took over her.” **I know I c-can’t ask you to stay.”** Now the tears were already rolling down her face, so hot that it hurt her sensitive skin, still she didn’t even notice it until the thin layer of salty water blurred her vision. She reached out to grab Kyungwon’s hard, holding onto it tightly. **“I can’t ask you to just go back to what we were before, but I want you to know that you’ll always have a special place in my life.”**

The slightly younger woman’s shoulder were shaking just like her hand that used to be so warm, but was cold now. Kyungwon didn’t reply, she couldn’t possibly do it. Minky was a big part of her life, she meant so much to her, she had affected her life in so many ways…How would things be if they had never become a couple? Or even friends? Maybe it would’ve been better if they never met…Her chest clenched at the thought. No, she would never regret have met and fall for Minky, even if things didn’t end in the best way, she would never forget everything good that the other brought to her life.

So she just squeezed Kim’s hand, nodding weakly. For a moment they just stood there, holding hands in the dark room for one last time. After tonight there would be no more talks, no movie marathons, fun reunions with their friends or even arguments…It was sad that their last memory in the house they had spent so many good days, would be so gloomy.

 **“I’ll sleep over Siyeon’s house. Everything is packed in my office already and it would be too awkward to stay anywhere else here. I’ll have someone getting my stuff tomorrow.”** Kyungwon said, her voice barely audible as she tried her best to restrain the turmoil of emotions inside her.

Minkyung sobs that had quiet down a bit, came back stronger as she throw herself into her ex-girlfriend’s arms, hugging her so tight that it was probably hurting the other woman a bit – however Kyungwon didn’t complain, she just returned the embrace, her big hands patting Minky’s back like she used to do to calm her down.

 **“You will be fine.”** There were tears in her words, tears Kim couldn’t see having her head buried deeply into Kang’s broad warm shoulder. Ever since the first time they hugged she always thought that being between Kyungwon’s arms was a privilege, an embrace that was capable of making her feel safe like no other. Usually their hugs were a symbol of their union, a comfort that made even their worst days a bit better, that helped them heal and grow as a couple and as people. It was a symbol of how they would be there for each other no matter what.

That hug wasn’t like that. Kyungwon wouldn’t be there the next time she needed, nor she would be there all the other times after that. It would be Yaebin. Yaebin with her gentle eyes and clingy ways, the sweet smiles and comforting words.

It was their last time together. Kyungwon would become her past, just like Yaebin became her future.

Minkyung hold on even tighter to the girl who had been a fundamental piece of her life for what seem like forever. She nuzzled her face into Kyungwon’s neck, trying to capture her pansy scent one last time – she could barely breathe, her body shaken by sobs and her eyes burning from the tears that seem endless. Still, she didn’t move, she wasn’t ready to do so.

Kyungwon didn’t push her away, instead she did her best to camouflage how badly her hands were shaking, pressing them to Minkyung’s back in reassuring motions. Her own salty tears fell incessantly, making her have to nibble on her lower lip to muffle a sob. Her blurred gaze insisted on fixing itself in the pictures of them on the walls, the images that told their whole story, a story marked by smiles and playful faces…She wondered if anyone would be able to tell that the people on those pictures were the same duo who was now falling apart. She was glad no one was there to capture this moment.

Both women needed this time, this last chance of saying goodbye and cry into each other’s arms. Although, it seem to only make the pain worse.

Whether it was minutes or hours, when Kyungwon finally pulled back, her face stained by the tears and hurt, she still tried to give Minkyung her trademark grin.

 **“You will be fine.”** She repeated, not only as a way to comfort her ex-girlfriend, but also trying to convince herself.

 **“But what about you?”** Minkyung replied, failing to contain her tears. She wanted to clingy onto Kyungwon, ask her to stay even if only a bit longer. Nevertheless, she knew she didn’t have this right. Not anymore.

Kyungwon’s small, shaky grin wasn’t able to stand for long. She only shook her head, wordless. She couldn’t and wouldn’t lie, she had no idea how things would be now. Minkyung had a happy ending ahead, and what she had? She had nothing left.

 She took Minkyung’s red and swollen face into her hands, placing a sweet kiss on her lips. **“I love you, Minky. Take care.”** She forced a small smile, leaning in to kiss the woman’s forehead.

With a final look and a very deep breath, she stood up. It was their last goodbye, yet she didn’t want to say the words, therefore she only gave her a nod before turning in her heels and heading to the door. She hurriedly put on her shoes and coat, leaving as fast as she could – not because she feared that Minkyung would try to stop her, she knew it wouldn’t happen ever again, but because she was afraid her own will would crumb down and she would go back to beg the girl to stay with her instead.

 

 

* * *

* * *

#  **_Tuesday_ **

 

As soon as she stepped outside the house, instead of only the cold wind of the night, she found a familiar car with two even more familiar figures leaning on it. The younger girls looked at her, the raven coming running to hug her tight as Sungyeon left out a frustrated sigh. Different form the usual, the kids didn’t say much, they silent support was everything Kyungwon needed right now.

They took her to Siyeon’s place, where Sungyeon insisted on giving her some pills to help her to sleep and she didn’t protest, glad for the torpor that the meds could put her into, falling into a dreamless sleep. However, not even the medicine was enough to make her sleep more than a couple of hours and she was up early morning.

Having already discussed with Siyeon about her plans, they didn’t try to argue when she said she had to get going to take the first train back to her parents home. Albeit Park only allowed her to leave once Sungyeon was back to drive them to the train station – because both girls insisted on baby sitting her, under the excuse that they wanted to see her off.

 **“You didn’t really think we wouldn’t come to make sure you are fine?”** The youngest had said with her usual smirk that wasn’t able to hide the concern in her eyes. Kang didn’t have strength to scold them about it, actually deep down she was grateful for having them by her side now.

Kyungwon only had a backpack with her, still the girls insisted on helping her with it as well, following her around like puppies.

 **“I’ve everything under control, so don’t even think about calling me to talk about work. I’ll appreciate personal calls though.”** Sungyeon had the ticket with her and handed it to older woman, a stern look on her face. Bae might look a bit indifferent at times, but Kyungwon knew she had a soft heart and she was one of the most reliable people she had ever met. **“Take good care of yourself. If you need anything just let me know.”**

 **“We’ll take care of everything here, so don’t worry and just pet Kongie for me!”** Siyeon added, giving her a bone crushing hug. She had that odd look to her eyes again, the one that made her look much older than she really was. **“I’m done with my classes. I could go with you, _unnie_.”**

With a small smile, the brown haired woman rejected the offer. She was thankful for having such good friends, but she needed some alone time now.

 **“Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you guys…”** She pulled both girls into a hug, winning a weak protest of Sungyeon and a bear like hug from the raven. Part of her wanted to stay and try to be strong, continuing her life in the city as if nothing had changed, but she knew it would do more harm than good. Hopefully she was making the right decision.

She could hear the first call for her train and decided to cut the goodbyes short before things get too emotional. **“I’ll see you soon. Keep me update about everything meanwhile, okay?”** She smiled, it coming surprisingly easy when she focused only on her friends and not allowed her mind to wandered to painful subjects. **“I’ll send you a lot of pictures of Kongie!”**

Waving to her friends one last time, she entered the train and took her seat. She had nearly three hours of journey ahead.

Resting her head against the widow, she allowed her mind to wander. Every single memory she had from Minkyung seem to flash before her eyes: their awkward first meeting in middle school, their first real conversation, the first time Minky smiled at her with affection, the first time they held hands and kissed…Slowly her memories reached more recent times. She still could remember the last time they had made this trip together, Minkyung was tired due to work and they had fight because Kyungwon thought she should quit such stressful job, but Minkyung was too stubborn to listen to her. The animosity between was short lived as usual and by the end of their short journey Minky was sleeping peaceful on her shoulder.

It had been their last trip together.

Shutting her eyes tight, she took a deep breath, saying goodbye to the memories as the train started to move taking her away of her old life.

 

 

* * *

 

Minkyung crawled into a ball on the couch, hugging herself as she tried to stop crying and failed. The conversation replayed in her mind so many times, Kyungwon’s sad eyes haunting her. She had throw her phone over the room, resisting the urge to call her and ask her to come back to their home because it wasn’t a home if she wasn’t there. Hiding her face on her knees, she tried to close herself up to all the memories that surrounded her. She remained like that for hours, until the tiredness took over her, making her fall in a light, restless sleep.

Yewon and Arin found her in this position in the morning. The Kim approached her older sister, sitting on the edge of the couch as Arin watched the sisters with a sorrowful smile.

 **“I’ll call her work and go buy some breakfast after.”** Choi mouthed to her girlfriend, leaving the room to give the Kims some privacy.

Yewon nodded, gently touching Minkyung’s hair to take it out off of her face. **“ _Unnie_? Come on, you shouldn’t sleep here.” **She called softly, her worried gaze noticing the girl’s bloated face and the dark circles under her eyes. Sais eyes soon fluttered open to face her. **“Are you okay?”**

 **“Yewon?”** She blinked, her half sleep brain taking a moment to acknowledge her little sister’s presence and remember what happened last night.

 **“Kyungwon _unnie_ asked me to come check on you.”** Yewon gave her a gloomy smile and Minkyung felt a new wave of pain going through her. That stupid Kang Kyungwon being thoughtful until the bitter ending wasn’t making it any easier to let her go.

**“Oh, Yewon, I’m so glad you are here!”**

 

 

* * *

 

Later that day Siyeon came with Sungyeon and a small team of people to get Kyungwon’s stuff as she requested. Yewon and Arin were still there with a much calmer, but still melancholic Minkyung. Sungyeon only shook her head at the older woman, excusing herself to order the men around and clean up Kang’s office, while Siyeon stood behind to talk to Minkyung and get Kyungwon’s personal things.

 **“We’ll be fast, she just asked for her work material and clothes.** Her tone was dry and cold, very different from the usual playful one that was natural to the raven. **“She doesn’t want anything else.”**

Not only she didn’t even bother coming to get her stuff, Kyungwon didn’t even want their pictures or the gifts she had gotten her? Minkyung nodded weakly. She should feel glad they were cutting all ties at once and making it as painless as possible, but she couldn’t. Her lips felt dry, her voice quiet when she spoke. **“How…How is she? I can’t reach her.”**

 **“Kyungwon _unnie_ is none of your business anymore.”** Minkyung flinched at the sharp answer. Siyeon was one of the closest person to Kyungwon, she shouldn’t be surprised that the girl didn’t liked her very much right now, still to hear these words hurt.

 **“I know I hurt her, but this doesn’t mean I don’t care about her!”** Her voice still cracked, albeit filled with frustration this time. She didn’t need Siyeon hating on her, she was beating herself enough already. **“I didn’t plan it all, I…I can’t control it. And I hate myself for it.”**

Park’s expression softened ever so slightly. **“Look, I’m sorry if I’m being rude, but… _Unnie_ , you have your soulmate now. Kyungwon has nothing. Or at least she feels like it.”** The younger woman sighed, a sad look on her face as she finally faced Minkyung. **“She needs time, a lot of it. Me, Sungyeon, and her family, we all will do our best to make her happy again. So just stay away and let us handle it.”**

No matter how much she wanted to argue, she couldn’t. Park was right. Meddling into Kyungwon’s life right now might done more damage than good. She just hoped things could get better eventually.

With a defeated sigh, she lead Siyeon to the bedroom that was now only hers.

 

 

* * *

* * *

#  **_2 years later_ **

 

 **“Unnie, are you sure you don’t want to come with us? Yerim even bought extra tickets.”** Siyeon said gesturing her girlfriend and soulmate that currently held the tickets with a puppy like expression on her face.

The young couple was spending some time with her. Siyeon still worked with her, although they were more like partners now, although this trip had nothing to do with work. At first Park even stayed with her for a long period, keeping her promise of looking after her unnie even when she had just bumped into her soulmate – the said soulmate was an incredibly supportive and cheerful person who didn’t even bat an eye before encouraging her to do it. Those had been the worst months, and Kyungwon had to admit that having the younger girl with her was rather comforting. However, it was all in the past now and the couple were there mainly to act like tourists and have fun as they were supposed to.

 **“And third wheel you guys? No, thanks.”** She shook her head with an amused smile. **“I’ve to do some things, so just go without me. We’ll see each other later.”**

Seeing them off, she went back inside to get her camera and small notebook with a pen that she always took with her when she went strolling the calm streets of her new neighborhood.

Cherry blossoms greeted her as soon as she stepped outside, their pink flowers casting shadow on the streets, giving it a cozy feel. Kang took a deep breath, her lungs filled with the familiar smell of spring that surrounded her.

It was spring when things changed. It’s funny since she was never the type that payed attention to this kind of stuff. She couldn’t even recall if it was summer or winter when they first met. Maybe because it was a happy memory, and all happy memories are warm. This one, however, was cold and had a greyscale add to it, but still she could remember clearly it was spring. Perhaps this explained why it was her least favorite time of the year now.

Nearly three years had passed since then. It was about time to change her perception of such beautiful time.

With calm steps, she headed to the place that had become her favorite in the past few months. The park was blooming with life, shades of green and pink everywhere giving it an almost unrealistic feeling that seem to amaze everyone that had the change of seeing it. She smile slightly at the sight, making her way to the center of it, where a calm lake with sky blue water was located. Her smile grew wider as she took her time to capture the small details of the view with her camera, the place was beautiful yet a little melancholic – it reminded her of her own memories of spring, therefore it was perfect for the pictures. Putting the camera down, she took a seat on one of the benches close to the water.

Turning her attention to the notebook she had brought with her, she opened it in a clean page. Bitting down on her bottom lip, Kyungwon wondered how she should do it. So much happened since she left their house – the one she shared with Minkyung, -- that it was hard to decide where she should begin.

After the breakup she followed with her plan. First she spend some time with her family back home, leaving the country soon after. Back then she didn’t know exactly what she would do, she just wanted to have the chance of experiencing new things and see new places. And she did, with Siyeon as her unofficial sidekick, she was able to start enjoying this new phase of her life. They just jumped from one place to the other, and that was when she started to take pictures, using every journey as a source of inspiration for her stories. Her friends got a bit worried that she would let work consume her life, using it as an escape route, and although she had became even more passionate about it, she made sure to let everyone know it wasn’t the case.

As if fate was trying to make it up for her bad luck in love, her work became a high point in her life. The webtoon that was already doing well, became even more successful and new ideas kept popping up on her head, ideas that would eventually become successful stories of their own. For this, she could sincerely say that she was very much proud and happy.

Achieving her dreams along with having the support and love of her family and friends was enough to make her feel grateful.

Truth be told, at first she was afraid of many things. She feared being unable to move on, of getting stuck and let things get to her and affect the person she was…This happened to some extent. It was impossible to come out unaffected, but she liked to think it helped her change for the best.  It made her a bit more serious and careful, it also made her think more about other people’s feeling and how it is okay to not have everything figured in life – she still wished she could’ve sometimes.

Nevertheless, her biggest fear still hadn’t come to life and maybe it would never. Her left hand was still clean of a mark and she would get tense whenever she met someone new. It was a bittersweet feeling really. Kyungwon knew that there was a chance her soulmate was still somewhere out there, yet she didn’t know if she liked it. Harbor hope seem like something that would only hurt her in the ending. Moreover, even if she ended up meeting a new person, she didn’t know if she wished to have someone in her life. Minkyung was still in her heart, no matter how deeply she tried to bury the memory of them, how was she supposed to accept anyone else in her life?

That’s why she decided to take that step today.

Getting her pen, she started writing.

 

 

* * *

 

Minkyung took a long sip out of her hot chocolate, passing another mug down to Yaebin and taking a seat on the couch. **“You finished it all?”** She asked, glancing at younger woman. Yaebin always looked charming when she was concentrate on her work like now, although she preferred her more carefree side overall.

 **“Pretty much. I like the design so far and I think it will look nice.”** The small Kang smiled, putting away the paper work to face her soulmate. They were currently working together on expanding the bookstore with the help of Minky’s company and the city’s administration, it was a partnership to protect the local business. It was surprising that such a big company was willing to participate in this kind of thing, but apparently they would be get a lot of benefits as well. **“And how are things going at the office?”**

 **“It’s just fine. I think I’m getting the hang of it.”** She nodded, returning the smile. Ever since her boss had been expelled out of the company, her whole team had to be redistributed and she was reallocated to a new department. Two years into the job, she finally had got her first promotion and although it come with new responsibilities, it was a walk in the park compared to be yelled at by her old boss. Putting her mug down at the table, she completed. **“I can help you out with the store on the weekend. You still haven’t got a new part timer since Yerim left, right?”**

It was the raven’s turn to nod, hugging the older woman with her free arm as she drunk some of her hot chocolate. She still wasn’t the biggest fan of unhealthy food, but she was becoming a bit more lenient to the little pleasures of life, besides Minkyung did the best hot chocolate she had ever drank. **“I’ll need to get more people anyway. I’d love some help interviewing all those college kids.”** The bookstore was, luckily, doing fine and even if she and Yooa tried their best, it was becoming a mess without extra people to keep everything in place.

 **“I’ll be there, so you won’t handle all the hyperactive kids alone.”** Kim left out a light chuckle, cuddling beside the girl and turning on the TV. They were right on time and soon a familiar voice was heard coming from the device. **“She is getting better at it, people love her at my work.”** She said referring to the blonde woman that was currently presenting the evening news in her usual flippant tone.

 **“Eunwoo was born for it. I’ll make her come over to promote the bookstore sometime since she likes to brag so much about being famous.”** Yaebin joked, watch her best friend doing on TV would never _not_ be funny to her. Albeit it was undeniable that the woman was good at it. Different from other anchorwoman, Eunwoo was far from being formal, but it was exactly her charm, she was always very direct and a bit blunt about everything, pouring her humor at perfect times and making even the most boring news entertaining. Nunu looked much happier lately as well, and even if she couldn’t see her as much due to her busy celebrity schedule – Jung’s own words, not hers – it was good to see her so vibrant again.

It was only one of the good changes that happen in the last couple of years.

She always wondered how having a soulmate would feel like. However, she never predict how much it could affect her positively. Maybe because having Minkyung around was more than just having someone to go on dates with – although it was rather nice as well –, it was also about having someone there for you whenever, someone to share her hopes and dreams, to be silly and cling with, to just be herself and still know she would be accepted. Minkyung taught her many things even without realizing it, and it had given her new hope. The older girl promised to stay by her side and she kept her word, and slowly Yaebin started to rely more and more on her, leaving behind her worries about the future.

Having her own soulmate also seem to help her relationship with her mom get better. Gwang Min had taking a liking on Minkyung rather fast, being the most supportive she could be and for once focusing on the moment and not in the past, as if seeing her daughter having a happy life was enough to make hers better as well.

The raven glanced at her girlfriend, observing her soft features illuminated by the soft light of the TV. The first time she saw Minky, she felt somewhat intimidate by her aura, now it couldn’t be any more different. Looking at her now brought to Yaebin a warm and comfortable feeling, as if she knew that as long as Minkyung was around everything would be fine – and it was, but it was so much more than that.

They hadn’t simply starting dating as soon as Minkyung was available, it could never be that simple. The brunette needed time to heal her wounds and organize her feelings, what Yaebin could understand completely as it was also a complex situation to her. Facing Kyungwon made her feel guilty and burdened, but also made her more convicted on treating Minky well and become the best partner she could have. Therefore, they just kept doing what they always did: spend time together and try to get to know each other, adapting to their new situation. It was a slow process, their friendly meetings turning into dates, the quick and awkward hugs becoming long and warm ones, the first hasty kiss giving passage to more sincere and passionate ones, mutual liking blooming into love. The connection was there from the beginning, once they accepted, things went smoothly.

Now they were in a nice place in their relationship. Minkyung always comes around to visit or the other way around, they always finding time to see each other and be there whenever the other one needs, be it in the happy or sad moments. There were no talks about marriage yet, but they both knew it would come up naturally. **“Are you staying over tonight?”**

Minkyung nodded positively, averting her eyes from the TV to meet Yaebin’s dark orbs. The way the girl looked at her with those eyes that were never able to hide her fondness was enough to crack a smile on the Kim’s face. She leaned in, kissing her forehead. **“If that is okay with you.”** Of course it was, Yaebin’s bear hug just confirmed it. Giggling, she hug her back. This adorable and cling side of the girl was her favorite, mainly because it was something that she only discovered as time passed and they became closer. It was one of the ways that showed how much trust and love had grown between them. She pulled back slightly to kiss the Kang on the lips loving.

 **“I’ll change into something more comfortable then**.” Giving Yaebin a final peck, she headed to the girl’s room to get some of the clothes she left there. Moving in with the girl would’ve been a lot more practical for both of them, but Yaebin never pushed for it and Minkyung could only be grateful for how understanding she was. Someday it would happen, she just wanted to wait a little longer.

Kim currently lived with her parents. After Kyungwon went away it just didn’t seem right for her to be there. It was one of her favorite places and she had spent so much time turning it into a home – but it was Kyungwon and hers home, and if the other woman was no longer there it didn’t feel like her home anymore. She moved away a couple of days after the brown haired woman did, taking every memory with her and storing it into a box and at the back of her mind.

When she and Yaebin finally move in together she would make sure it was forever.

 

 

* * *

 

Yaebin woke up to the sound of her phone ringing loudly. **“Hello?”** She mumbled, getting off Minkyung’s embrace to take the call.

She was greeted by her former employee and friend Choi Yerim, who seem as excited as ever. ** _“Yaebin unnie! We are here, can you open the door?”_**

 **“Yerim? I thought you wouldn’t come back until next month…”** She tried to blink away the sleep, feeling her mind a little slower than usual. **“Wait, what do you mean by _here_?”**

**_“We are at your place. I brought gifts and Siyeon is with me too!”_ **

Yaebin yawned, slowly getting up of the bed. She gave her soulmate a look, considering if she should or not wake her up, but deciding against it after noticing how peaceful the older girl was sleeping. Knowing how loudly Yerim could be, it wouldn’t be shocking if the Kim waked up by herself later.

 **“Okay. Just give me a minute.”** Turning off the phone, she headed to the living room where the front door was located. Since she was already in the comfortable clothes that she used to sleep, she didn’t bother changing, just put her hair up in a messy pony tail and opened the door to welcome the young couple into her house.

Yerim greeted her with a tight hug and the smile that was her signature. The raven haired woman that accompanied her wasn’t as warm, actually she was more like the opposite of her soulmate. She only gave her a small bow that didn’t seem very sincere at all. For a number of reasons Park Siyeon was never fond of her, and while it could be a bit annoying, she couldn’t really do anything about it – Siyeon was Kang Kyungwon’s best friend and apparently a very protective one. How ironic that she had find her own soulmate when she came around to snoop the bookstore and give Yaebin dirty looks under the excuse of looking for new books for college.

**“Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to see you…two. But isn’t it a bit early for a visit on a Saturday?”**

**“Siyeon has something to give to you and Minkyung _unnie_!”** It was Yerim who responded, before starting a small rant about everything she had bought for her beloved unnie as well.

Yaebin had to refrain from frowning, only then noticing the small package on Park’s hand. She wondered if Choi had obligated the girl to try to be more friendly towards them, but something told her that it wasn’t the case.

She was about to invite them to sit down and get them some breakfast, when Park finally spoke. **“We have to visit my parents, so we are kind of in a rush**.” She didn’t look even half disappointed for not being able to stay longer – as expected. She handed her the package with a firm look. **“Kyungwon _unnie_ asked me to give this to you. It’s no big deal so just accept it.” **

Things made much more sense now, that girl wouldn’t simply have picked her a gift out of nowhere. The Kang nodded, accepting the item as Yerim proceed to hand her out a bunch of random gifts that she had bought everywhere in Japan, ignoring completely the mood. **“Here, _unnie_! I hope you and Minkyung like it. Call me when you eat a bit of everything and let me know what you thought about it.”**

Thanking the girl and receiving a final hug, the couple was out of there in a matter of minutes. Yaebin shook her head, carefully laying down Yerim’s gifts to focus in the one Park had gave her. She glanced at the direction of her room, confirming Minkyung wasn’t up yet before opening the package.

She found a small note on top of a bigger envelope.

_ “Yaebin, I know this is a bit sudden, but I thought it would be more appropriate to have you seen this before Minkyung does. I would appreciate if you could forward it to her, but I’ll understand if you don’t.” _

It had Kyungwon’s signature, confirming what Siyeon had told her already.

Hesitating for a moment, she opened the envelope to check its content. Yaebin frowned slightly. There was a short story draw with Kyungwon’s usual style – one that she got to meet thanks to Minkyung’s manhwa collection –, along with a letter and an official looking document. She decided to start for the latter. It was an official notice, guarantying that anything wrote by Minkyung would get properly promoted for a big publishing company – Minky’s company. Yaebin had no idea how much one had to pay for this kind of stuff, but she had the feeling that it wasn’t cheap. She knew it was possible to publish a book without paying for it, _if_ you found someone willing to do so and she didn’t doubt Minky could do it, however it might be a good way of encouraging her to finally try.

Yaebin’s lips curved in a small smile. The fellow Kang indeed knew Minkyung all too well. She proceed to check the other items that only confirmed what she had thought before.

With a small sigh, she carefully placed everything back into the envelope and head back to the room. Minkyung was already up when she reached it, sat on the edge of the bed. **“Yaebs? What happened? It’s so early.”** She greeted, pointing out the clock on the nightstand that showed that it wasn’t even 9 a.m. yet.

 **“Yerim came back from her trip and stopped by to drop some souvenirs she bought. And Siyeon came along.”** She said, approaching the girl and handing her the envelope. Minky looked at her with a confused expression, for what she only shrugged. **“Go ahead. She said Kyungwon sent this to you.”**

Minky’s eyes grew a bit wider as she grasped the envelope on her hands. Kyungwon hadn’t contact her ever since the break up, not even answering her calls or texts, and she started to think she never would, but now this?

 **“I’ll give you some privacy while I fix breakfast for us.”** Yaebin gave her a smile, kissing her cheek before leaving her alone.

With clumsy motions Kim unfolded the letter, her eyes recognizing Kyungwon’s handwriting right away. She sighed, giving a small, fond smile as she read.

_ “Dear Minkyungie,  _

_ It’s been a while, right? I’m sorry for leaving like that. I hope you can forgive me for this and see that it was for the best after all. I know Yewon kept her word and kept you update about my whereabouts. Worrying you was never my intention, I just needed some time away. _

_ It’s spring now. You know, the most popular season in animes and manga? I came to Japan to check it for myself and it’s indeed beautiful. You would’ve liked it. For a while I hated this time of the year, but I guess I can learn to appreciate it again. _

_ Siyeon and Yerim are with me. These kids are surely noisy, but I have to admit that things are more fun when they are around. They’ll be back home soon, as for me I don’t know yet. Sungyeon says I’m causing her trouble being all over the place, but I think it is helping me to create my new stories.  _

_ I’m still waiting for your first book. You told me so about so many ideas, don’t hesitate and bring it to life! I’m sending something with this, please accept it. I bought it using the ring I kept on my office, I know you saw it and you knew it was for you, so this is also yours one way or another. I’m sorry for taking so long to give it to you, took me a long time to decide how I could do it and finally I found a way to make it reach you. Please don’t look at it as my last gift for you, but as my first for you and Yaebin and make good use of it. _

_ Yewon doesn’t tell me much about you, I asked her to not. Childish, I know, but that’s me. I thought that by cutting you off my life completely I’d be able to kick you out of my heart as well. Can’t say it went that well, but I think it gave me the time I needed to get myself together. I’m doing fine now (really!) and I hope you are okay as well. I hope you can read this with a smile on your face and write me back sometime. I would like to know how things are going, your plans for the future and even to hear about Yaebin, this time as your best friend who can feel  happy for you.  _

_ I don’t know if we can ever go back to being best friends, it seem kind of a stretch, no? But I’ve been thinking about it a lot and I just wanted you to know that whenever I think about you, I only have good memories to cherish. I didn’t get the chance of telling you that day, but I’m also glad that you were in my in life. _

_ So don’t feel pressured to answer this letter, we have our own paths to follow and it’s okay if they lead to separate ways. I think its about time we’ve a proper closure. _

_ The drawing that accompanies the letter has a special meaning and I know you’ll be able to understand it. At first I thought about getting rid of it, but now I understand that it still fits us well.  _

_ With love, Kyungwon. _

_ P.S.: I went with Kongie to that nice hotel I had told you about, he loved it! I’ll email you some pictures of him in case you miss him.” _

Kyungwon was right, by the end of it she had a huge smile on her face, albeit her eyes were slightly red due to the tears.

Putting the letter aside, she looked at the certificate and shook her head slightly. Typical Kyungwon, pushing her to do what she wasn’t brave enough to do alone. However, the drawing was what caught her attention. It was a simple story, just a couple of frames about a fox and an otter – her chest tighten when she recognized the characters. Kyungwon had showed her a different story before, it was about the characters arguing because the otter was always getting into trouble and the fox had to save her every time. This one had a different tone, it wasn’t only about their usual dynamics. It was about hunters invading the forest they lived on and menacing them, they had to move away fast, but the otter wanted to go to a warm place while the fox thought a colder place would be the best option. They had little time to argue and had to decide faster whether going separate ways or if they should just stick together and hope for the best. The otter decided for the latter, telling the fox that she needed to stay with her so she could hear the hunters first and keep her safe although both knew the otter was as scared as the fox, still the fox was glad for having the otter with her. It ended with them running away together.

The heartwarming little story was enough to send her tears running down her face, although she would wipe them right away with her free hand afraid it could damage the drawing. Her tears were both, sorrowful for knowing what that story originally meant, and happy for knowing that Kyungwon was willing to come back into her life. There are many forms of love, and no doubt there was still much love between the two of them, even if it wasn’t as it used to be, it was as valuable.

She would keep the drawing safe with her, just like she kept all of their other memories. Minkyung would most definitely call her best friend and tell her to come back home already.

Yaebin shouted from the kitchen, informing that the food was ready and Minkyung stood up, carefully storing everything back inside the envelope before putting it on her bag. **“On my way!”** and she head there with a hopeful heart.

 

 

* * *

 

 **“What now?”** Kyla asked as they watched the scene of Kyungwon writing through the glass window of the library, a simple wave of hands making the image disappear.

 **“I have good plan for it this time, as long as some people don’t interfere.”** Sungyeon gave Nayoung a stingy look, receiving an eye roll in return. The youngest duo was rather childish in Kyla’s opinion.

**“Do as you please, she has plenty of time thanks to you anyway.”**

**“She can’t do much, the council is not very happy with her antics.”** Nayoung said in her typical monotone voice.

Sungyeon gave her a piercing look. **“Still, even if I can’t personally do it, doesn’t mean it can’t be done.”**

 **“Are you asking me a favor?”** The Im replied, raising a questioning eyebrow.

Bae crossed her arms, her brown gaze sharp. **“You _owe_ me one, is very different.” **

It was Death’s turn to roll her eyes. **“Just do your work, Nayoung. For all of them.”** She might not be able to feel much – if anything at all –, but she could understand the basic feelings and how they seem to rule humans and even her younger colleagues sometimes **. “As for Sungyeon, she will be helping me out as part of her punishment.”** She gave the shorter girl a smirk – maybe she wasn’t completely insensible to feelings.

With a snort, Bae checked her own watch. **“We better getting going then. Tell Kyulkyung I said hi.”** This was her goodbye before disappearing into mist. Nayoung didn’t pay much attention to her after all she was used to it by now. Kyla was less abrupt, giving her a slightly nod of head before following Sungyeon.

Nayoung’s newly discovered pettiness demanded her to ignore the other’s requests as a form of punishment for her petulance, but she took her work too seriously to do so. She had to take a lot into consideration before fixing things, If she could even do it.

Kyulkyung’s steps could be heard coming from the back of library and Im turned to face her. **“So, did you pick it?”**

**“I guess…No, I’m sure. Can you really do that for me?”**

Im sighed. She could do so much for her noise, yet reliable and sweet assistant, but she wouldn’t say it out loud. **“Yes. Give me the names.”**

The raven haired assistant handed her a small note with two names and birth dates written on it. Nayoung touched it carefully, closing her eyes for a moment before nodding. **“I suppose it’s the right order?”** She pointed out the first name and Kyul nodded. **“We should go then.”** Offering her arm for the younger woman to hold, she prepared to start her journey to fix yet another mistake.  

 

 

 

* * *

 

 **A/N:** And that’s a wrap! Writing both endings was quite a challenge and I hope it was worth it.

I will probably do a couple of bonus chapters for this story.

If you have any doubts or comments, feel free to message me here or on twitter at @uncreativeacc. Thanks again for reading, see you next time <3

P.S.: In case you are curious regarding the timelines and goddess, you can check **[this link](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M--XGt61W5rN3hiARXkkmkfeTl6J9uzg9PeKigwiBNg/edit?usp=sharing)** for information.


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